Benitez Ponce Maria Soledad, Hersh Michelle H, Becker Lindsey, Vilgalys Rytas, Clark James S
Department of Plant Pathology, College of Food Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Wooster Campus, The Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio, United States of America.
Department of Biology, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 May 9;20(5):e0322440. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0322440. eCollection 2025.
The structure and function of plant-associated fungal communities (i.e. mycobiome) is shaped by biotic and abiotic factors, and can impact plant community dynamics. We evaluated the effects of different environmental factors in structuring the communities of seedling-associated fungi in temperate tree species, considering both the Janzen-Connell hypothesis as well as the impacts of climate warming. We tested the hypothesis that fungal host-specialization is observed at both the individual fungus and fungal community levels and is modulated by environmental conditions. The seedling fungal communities were characterized from tree species grown in two forests, under experimental manipulation of light, warming, and distance to and density of conspecifics. Fungal communities were analyzed using generalized joint attribute models. While warming, light, and forest site played a role in structuring seedling fungal communities, host, distance to, and density of conspecifics were stronger contributors. Furthermore, we could identify which fungal taxa responded to which predictors. This work supports the concept of fungal host-specialization at the community level, and points to particular fungal taxa which may play roles in density- and distance-dependent regulation of plant species diversity in the studied forests.
与植物相关的真菌群落（即真菌微生物组）的结构和功能受生物和非生物因素影响，并可能影响植物群落动态。我们评估了不同环境因素对温带树种幼苗相关真菌群落结构的影响，同时考虑了詹曾-康奈尔假说以及气候变暖的影响。我们检验了以下假说：在单个真菌和真菌群落层面均存在真菌宿主专一性，且其受环境条件调节。在对光照、升温以及与同种个体的距离和密度进行实验操控的情况下，从生长在两片森林中的树种中对幼苗真菌群落进行了特征描述。使用广义联合属性模型对真菌群落进行了分析。虽然升温、光照和森林地点在构建幼苗真菌群落中发挥了作用，但宿主、与同种个体的距离和密度的影响更强。此外，我们能够确定哪些真菌类群对哪些预测因子有响应。这项工作支持了群落层面真菌宿主专一性的概念，并指出了特定的真菌类群，它们可能在研究森林中植物物种多样性的密度和距离依赖性调节中发挥作用。
