First morphological and molecular investigation of the mycobiota associated with Astragalus nebrodensis in its natural environment (Madonie mountains, Sicily)

Abstract

Although Astragalus nebrodensis plays a fundamental ecological role, mycorrhizal fungi associated with this species have never been investigated in natural habitats. Our aim was to check the presence and occurrence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) in roots of A. nebrodensis in a natural habitat and to screen the fungal diversity in the surrounding soil, considering the positive influence of mycotrophic shrub species on soil microbiota. A morphological analysis was performed on A. nebrodensis roots samples from the Madonie mountains (Sicily, Italy), while high-throughput-sequencing was carried out in A. nebrodensis roots and in the associated soil. Observations of A. nebrodensis roots revealed typical structures of AMF. Sequencing revealed that Ascomycota was the most abundant phylum in both roots and soil samples, followed by Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota. A. nebrodensis roots host a fungal community with lower richness as compared to soil and specific taxa were differentially abundant between roots and soil. The endomycorrhizal symbiosis in A. nebrodensis from a natural habitat is reported here for the first time. The fungal diversity between the two matrices (soil vs roots) supports the notion of a specialised and well-established root microbiome in A. nebrodensis enabling it to survive the stressful conditions of its harsh environment.

Keywords:

• Fungal diversity
• mycorrhizal fungi
• soil
• ITS
• barcoding

Acknowledgements

We thank the technical staff at CNR for practical work.

Author contributions

A.M. and G.V. conceived the idea. E.L., E.L. V.B. and G.D. collected the samples in the field. E.L., E.L. V.B. and A.M. processed the samples. F.V. and P.C. analysed the data. A.M. wrote the article with contribution of all authors. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

No dedicated funds were used.

Data availability

The libraries are available in the NCBI database and are included in the bioproject with code PRJNA861234 (accession numbers from SRX16441362 to SRX16441373).