Fine‐scale structure of populations of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma cylindrosporum in coastal sand dune forest ecosystems

Abstract

The basidiomycete mushroom Hebeloma cylindrosporum is a frequently found pioneer ectomycorrhizal species naturally associated with Pinus pinaster trees growing in coastal sand dune ecosystems along the Atlantic south‐west coast of France. The genotypic diversity and spatial structure of three populations of this fungal species have been studied. At each site the basidiocarps were mapped, sampled and propagated as pure mycelial cultures. For each of the isolates, we have studied polymorphisms in the mitochondrial genome, polymorphisms at two different nuclear loci and also fingerprints produced with a multicopy DNA probe. The comparison of the different polymorphisms obtained, with each of the four molecular methods used, allowed the identification of several of the different genets present in each site. In two of the studied sites most of the basidiocarps, which often occurred as dense patches of 10–30 in 1 m2 or less, were of a unique genotype, suggesting the below‐ground mycelia to be of a small size (from 50 cm2 to approx. 7 m2 for the larger mycelia) and that the root system of a single Pinus tree can host several genets of the same symbiotic fungus. In the two sites, which were studied again after a 3‐year interval, none of the genotypes identified in the first year of sampling was re‐identified 3 years later. These results contrast with those reported for other species of soilborne homobasidiomycete species, either ectomycorrhizal, parasitic or saprophytic, showing mostly large clones resulting from the vegetative growth and from persistence of below‐ground mycelia. Sexual reproduction through meiospore dispersal seems to play a key role in the structuring of the populations of H. cylindrosporum. Mycelia associated with the root systems seem to be replaced after 1 or a few years, during which basidiocarp differentiation takes place. As opposed to the few other studied ectomycorrhizal species, H. cylindrosporum has the characteristics of ruderal species, with a short life‐span adapted to pioneer situations, e.g. to nutrient‐poor and unstable sandy soils of coastal sand dunes.