Abstract
Truffles are one group of the most famous ectomycorrhizal fungi in the world. There is little information on the ecological mechanisms of truffle ectomycorrhizal synthesis in vitro. In this study, we investigated the ecological effects of Tuber indicum – Quercus aliena ectomycorrhizal synthesis on microbial communities in the host plant roots and the surrounding soil using high-throughput sequencing and on the metabolic profiles of host plant roots using metabolomics approaches. We observed an increase in the diversity and richness of prokaryotic communities and a decrease in richness of fungal communities in the presence of T. indicum. The microbial community structures in the host roots and the surrounding soil were altered by ectomycorrhizal synthesis in the greenhouse. Bacterial genera Pedomicrobium, Variibacter, and Woodsholea and fungal genera Aspergillus, Phaeoacremonium, and Pochonia were significantly more abundant in ectomycorhizae and the ectomycorrhizosphere soil compared with the corresponding T. indicum-free controls (P < 0.05). Truffle-colonization reduced the abundance of some fungal genera surrounding the host tree, such as Acremonium, Aspergillus, and Penicillium. Putative prokaryotic metabolic functions and fungal functional groups (guilds) were also differentiated by ectomycorrhizal synthesis. The ectomycorrhizal synthesis had great impact on the measured soil physicochemical properties. Metabolic profiling analysis uncovered 55 named differentially abundant metabolites between the ectomycorhizae and the control roots, including 44 upregulated and 11 downregulated metabolites. Organic acids and carbohydrates were two major upregulated metabolites in ectomycorhizae, which were found formed dense interactions with other metabolites, suggesting their crucial roles in sustaining the metabolic functions in the truffle ectomycorrhization system. This study revealed the effects of truffle-colonization on the metabolites of ectomycorrhiza and illustrates an interactive network between truffles, the host plant, soil and associated microbial communities, shedding light on understanding the ecological effects of truffles.
Highlights
Mycorrhizae are present in more than 80% of plant species, play an important role in the maintenance of the forest ecosystem and in global carbon and phosphorus cycling (Li et al, 2006; Franklin et al, 2014)
High-throughput sequencing technique was used to detect the differences in microbial diversity in the Q. aliena root tips and the surrounding soil with and without the colonization of T. indicum
The two diversity indices (e.g., Shannon and Simpson) indicated that prokaryotic diversity was highest in the ectomycorrhizosphere soil (ECM.S) and the rhizosphere soil without T. indicum partner (CK.S) and lowest in the roots without T. indicum partners (CK)
Summary
Mycorrhizae are present in more than 80% of plant species, play an important role in the maintenance of the forest ecosystem and in global carbon and phosphorus cycling (Li et al, 2006; Franklin et al, 2014). Mycorrhizal fungus is supplied with carbohydrates by the host plants (Doidy et al, 2012; Ait Lahmidi et al, 2016). In spite of the importance of ECM associations for plant vitality, we have little information on the molecular and physiological mechanisms of ectomycorrhizal synthesis (Larsen et al, 2011; Tschaplinski et al, 2014; Martin et al, 2016). Most of our current knowledge are based on the studies of plants that interact with arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM), which may differ in many respects of those that interact with EM fungi (Luo et al, 2009; Vayssieres et al, 2015; Watts-Williams and Cavagnaro, 2015)
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