Communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the roots of Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta (Japanese pear) in orchards with variable amounts of soil-available phosphorus.

We examined the colonization rate and communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the roots of Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta (Japanese pear) in orchards to investigate the effect of phosphorus (P) fertilization on AMF. Soil cores containing the roots of Japanese pear were collected from 13 orchards in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. Soil-available P in the examined orchards was 75.7 to 1,200 mg kg(-1), showing the extreme accumulation of soil P in many orchards. The AMF colonization rate was negatively correlated with soil-available P (P <0.01). AMF communities were examined on the basis of the partial fungal DNA sequences of the nuclear small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) amplified by AMF-specific primers AML1 and AML2. The obtained AMF sequences were divided into 14 phylotypes, and the number of phylotypes (species richness) was also negatively correlated with soil-available P (P <0.05). It was also suggested that some AM fungi may be adapted to high soil-available P conditions. Redundancy analysis showed the significant effects of soil pH, available P in soil, and P content in leaves of P. pyrifolia var. culta trees on AMF distribution. These results suggested that the accumulation of soil-available P affected AMF communities in the roots of Japanese pear in the orchard environment.