Sakha Michael, Gweyi-Onyango Joseph P, Masso Cargele, Baijukya Frederick P
Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
One CGIAR, Impact Area Platform on Environmental Health and Biodiversity, Nairobi, Kenya.
Front Microbiol. 2025 May 21;16:1582476. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1582476. eCollection 2025.
Elucidating the diversity of native arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is essential for the sustainable management of semi-arid land ecosystems. This is because they significantly improve plant nutrient uptake and decrease the stress caused by biotic and abiotic factors. In this study, we examined the AM fungal communities and the key drivers influencing their diversity and occurrence in the smallholder farming systems of Eastern Kenya. Soils samples were collected from 34 diverse agricultural fields and AM fungal spores were extracted using wet-sieving and decantation techniques. The spores were quantified, and AM fungal communities were identified based on their morphological characteristics. Statistical data analyses, including relative abundance, the Shannon-Wiener index, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and principal component analysis (PCA), were performed using R software 4.4.0. The results revealed that two AM fungal families dominated the agricultural fields, namely (61.0%) and (39.0%). These fungal families comprised a total of five genera, with the following relative abundances: (39.0%), (35.05%), (23.92%), (1.32%), and (0.72%). The AM fungal morpho-species were ranked from 1 to 26 across the five genera. ranked the highest, with a proportion of 25.19%. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index revealed a higher diversity of AM fungi in agricultural fields with greater spore richness. The PCA showed that the composition of AM fungal communities was strongly related to soil physiochemical characteristics. Dryland farming systems also played a role in AM fungal composition. Overall, the distribution of AM fungal communities across the agricultural fields was lower, implying the need to adopt sustainable dryland farming systems to enhance native AM fungal communities and support the development of context-specific biofertilizers.
阐明本地丛枝菌根（AM）真菌的多样性对于半干旱土地生态系统的可持续管理至关重要。这是因为它们能显著提高植物对养分的吸收，并减轻生物和非生物因素造成的压力。在本研究中，我们调查了肯尼亚东部小农户农业系统中的AM真菌群落以及影响其多样性和出现的关键驱动因素。从34个不同的农田采集土壤样本，并使用湿筛法和倾析技术提取AM真菌孢子。对孢子进行定量，并根据其形态特征鉴定AM真菌群落。使用R软件4.4.0进行统计数据分析，包括相对丰度、香农-维纳指数、方差分析（ANOVA）和主成分分析（PCA）。结果显示，两个AM真菌科在农田中占主导地位，即球囊霉科（61.0%）和无梗囊霉科（39.0%）。这些真菌科共有五个属，相对丰度如下：球囊霉属（39.0%）、无梗囊霉属（35.05%）、内养囊霉属（23.92%）、盾巨孢囊霉属（1.32%）和巨孢囊霉属（0.72%）。AM真菌形态种在这五个属中从1到26进行排序。球囊霉属排名最高，比例为25.19%。香农-维纳多样性指数表明，孢子丰富度较高的农田中AM真菌的多样性更高。主成分分析表明，AM真菌群落的组成与土壤理化特性密切相关。旱地农业系统也对AM真菌的组成有影响。总体而言，AM真菌群落在农田中的分布较低，这意味着需要采用可持续的旱地农业系统来增强本地AM真菌群落，并支持因地制宜的生物肥料的开发。
