Composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities signals generalist species in soils cultivated with strawberry

Abstract

The structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities in areas under strawberry cultivation in the Brazilian subtropics has been poorly studied. Thus, we characterized cultivated and native forest soils, of reference-sites in strawberry cultivation in southern Brazil, regarding the AMF community and investigate if there is variability in the diversity in the mycorrhizal communities of these soils. For this, we evaluated eight soils, in a completely randomized design experiment. We observed that the species Claroideoglomus aff. luteum, Claroideoglomus claroideum, C. etunicatum, Funneliformis mosseae and Glomus sp2 were the most frequent. Native forest soils had more fungal species than cultivated soils. Soils little anthropized under strawberry cultivation resembled the natural soils regarding the AMF heterogeneity. We conclude that there are AMF diversity in soils of reference-sites in strawberry cultivation, and that C. claroideum and C. etunicatum are generalist, independent of the ecosystem. This study contributes significantly to our knowledge about the community composition of AMF in soils of reference-sites in the strawberry cultivation in the Brazilian subtropics. Thus, it becomes possible the development of inoculants for this horticultural crop, with the role of making their cultivation more sustainable.