TY  - JOUR
A1  - Merges, Dominik
A1  - Bálint, Miklós
A1  - Schmitt, Imke
A1  - Manning, Peter
A1  - Neuschulz, Eike Lena
T1  - High throughput sequencing combined with null model tests reveals specific plant-fungi associations linked to seedling establishment and survival
T2  - Journal of ecology
N2  - 1. Plant-fungal interactions are important for plant community assembly, but quantifying these relationships remains challenging. High throughput sequencing of fungal communities allows us to identify plant-fungal associations at a high level of resolution, but often fails to provide information on taxonomic and functional assignment of fungi. 2. We transplanted seeds of Pinus cembra across an elevational gradient (1850–2250 m a.s.l.) and identified environmental factors and known fungal associates important for seedling establishment and survival. We then applied null model tests to identify taxonomically unassigned fungi associated with pine recruitment. 3. Early seedling establishment was determined by abiotic environmental factors, while seedling survival was predominantly affected by biotic environmental factors (i.e., the abundance of a fungal pathogen known from literature and the distance to adult trees). Null model tests identified known mycorrhizal partners and a large number of unknown operational taxonomic units (OTUs) associated with seedling survival, including saprotrophic and pathogenic species. These results highlight that unknown fungal OTUs, which are usually discarded from analyses, could play a crucial role for plant survival. 4. Synthesis. We conclude that high throughput metabarcoding paired with null model tests, is a valuable approach for identifying hidden plant-fungal associations within large and complex DNA metabarcoding datasets. Such an approach can be an important tool in illuminating the black box of plant-microbe interactions, and thus understanding ecosystem dynamics.
KW  - DNA metabarcoding
KW  - elevational gradient
KW  - fungal pathogens
KW  - ITS
KW  - mycorrhiza
KW  - plant regeneration
KW  - transplant experiment
Y1  - 2019
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/63858
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-638581
SN  - 1365-2745
N1  - This research has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG; NE 1863/2-1).
VL  - 108
IS  - 2
SP  - 574
EP  - 585
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Oxford [u.a.]
ER  -