Arbuscular mycorrhizas and dark septate endophytes associated with grasses from the Argentine Puna

EUGENIA MENOYO; HENNING, J. A.; LUGO M. A.; MARÍA A. NEGRITTO; RISIO, L. V.; ANTON, A. M.

MYCOLOGIA.

ALLEN PRESS INC

Lugar: Lawrence; Año: 2018 p. 1 - 12

0027-5514

The Andean Puna is an arid, high-elevation plateau in which plants such as grasses experiencehigh abiotic stress and distinctive environmental conditions. We assessed colonization byarbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) in the roots of 20native grass species and examined the relationship between fungal root-associated fungi(AMF and DSE) as a function of the elevation of study sites, the photosynthetic pathways ofthe grass hosts, and the hosts? life cycles. In general, grasses were co-colonized by AMF andDSE and the root colonization by AMF and by DSE was not extensive. The extension ofcolonization of AMF and DSE were positively correlated, as were arbuscules and DSEcolonization extension. The extension of AMF colonization differed among sites withdifferent elevation, but DSE colonization was similar across sites. Overall, AMF and DSEpatterns shifted as a function of elevation in most grass species, with no general trendsobserved with respect to host photosynthetic pathways or life cycle. In general ourobservations differ from previous studies in the Northern Hemisphere. Variation among sitesin AMF and DSE colonization was greater than variation that could be explained by the otherfactors considered here, suggesting a strong influence of environmental factors. We predictthat both AMF and DSE endophytes may have established synergistic and beneficialassociations with grasses in these distinctive and harsh ecosystems.