IPATEC   26054
INSTITUTO ANDINO PATAGONICO DE TECNOLOGIAS BIOLOGICAS Y GEOAMBIENTALES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
First record of Rhizoscyphus ericae in Southern Hemisphere's Ericaceae
Autor/es:
FONTENLA S. BRUZONE MC, FERNANDEZ NV Y MESTRE MC; FEHRER J; VOHNIK M; FONTENLA S,
Revista:
MYCORRHIZA
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2016 vol. 27 p. 147 - 163
ISSN:
0940-6360
Resumen:
Ericoid mycorrhiza is arguably the least investigated mycorrhizal type, particularly when related to the number of potential hosts and the ecosystems they inhabit. Littleisknownabout theglobaldistributionofericoidmycorrhizal (ErM) fungi, and this holds true even for the prominent ErM mycobiont Rhizoscyphus ericae. Earlier studies suggested R. ericae might be low in abundance or absent in the roots of Southern Hemisphere?s Ericaceae, and our previous investigations in two Argentine Patagonian forests supported this view. Here, we revisited the formerly investigated area, albeit at a higher altitude, and screened fungi inhabiting hair roots of Gaultheria caespitosa and Gaultheria pumila at a treeless alpine site using the same methods as previously. We obtained 234 isolates, most of them belonging to Ascomycota. In contrast to previous findings, however, among 37 detected operational taxonomic units(OTUs),OTU1(=R.ericaes.str.)comprisedthehighestnumberofisolates(87,∼37%).MostoftheOTUsandisolates belongedtotheHelotiales,and82.5% ofisolatesbelongedto OTUs shared between both Gaultheria species. At the alpine site, ericoid mycorrhizal fungi dominated, followed by dark septate endophytes and aquatic hyphomycetes probably acting as root endophytes. Our results suggest that the distribution of R. ericae is influenced, among others, by factors related to altitude such as soil type and presence/absence and typeoftheneighboringvegetation.Ourstudyisthefirstreport on R. ericae colonizing Ericaceae roots in the Southern Hemisphere and extends the known range of this prominent ErM species to NW Patagonia.