Lost in diversity: the interactions between soil-borne fungi, biodiversity and plant productivity

Liesje Mommer, T E Anne Cotton, Jos M Raaijmakers, Aad J Termorshuizen, Jasper van Ruijven, Marloes Hendriks, Sophia Q van Rijssel, Judith E van de Mortel, Jan Willem van der Paauw, Elio G W M Schijlen, Annemiek E Smit-Tiekstra, Frank Berendse, Hans de Kroon, Alex J Dumbrell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

There is consensus that plant species richness enhances plant productivity within natural grasslands, but the underlying drivers remain debated. Recently, differential accumulation of soil-borne fungal pathogens across the plant diversity gradient has been proposed as a cause of this pattern. However, the below-ground environment has generally been treated as a 'black box' in biodiversity experiments, leaving these fungi unidentified. Using next generation sequencing and pathogenicity assays, we analysed the community composition of root-associated fungi from a biodiversity experiment to examine if evidence exists for host specificity and negative density dependence in the interplay between soil-borne fungi, plant diversity and productivity. Plant species were colonised by distinct (pathogenic) fungal communities and isolated fungal species showed negative, species-specific effects on plant growth. Moreover, 57% of the pathogenic fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) recorded in plant monocultures were not detected in eight plant species plots, suggesting a loss of pathogenic OTUs with plant diversity. Our work provides strong evidence for host specificity and negative density-dependent effects of root-associated fungi on plant species in grasslands. Our work substantiates the hypothesis that fungal root pathogens are an important driver of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)542-553
Number of pages12
JournalNew Phytologist (Print)
Volume218
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2018

Keywords

  • Biodiversity
  • Biomass
  • Fungi/pathogenicity
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions
  • Models, Biological
  • Plant Development
  • Plant Roots/genetics
  • Plants/microbiology
  • Soil Microbiology
  • Species Specificity

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