Temporal and Cultivar-Specific Effects on Potato Root and Soil Fungal Diversity
Kaire Loit,
Liina Soonvald,
Alar Astover,
Eve Runno-Paurson,
Maarja Öpik,
Leho Tedersoo
Affiliations
Kaire Loit
Chair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Fr. R. Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, Estonia
Liina Soonvald
Chair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Fr. R. Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, Estonia
Alar Astover
Chair of Soil Science, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Fr. R. Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, Estonia
Eve Runno-Paurson
Chair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Fr. R. Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, Estonia
Maarja Öpik
Department of Botany, University of Tartu, 40 Lai St., 51005 Tartu, Estonia
Leho Tedersoo
Department of Microbiology, University of Tartu, Ravila 14a, 50411 Tartu, Estonia
The soil fungal community plays an important role in determining plant growth and health. In this study, we investigated the fungal diversity and community composition in the roots and soil of 21 potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars using high-throughput sequencing at three different time points across the growing season. In soil and roots, the fungal richness and relative abundance of pathogens and saprotrophs were mainly affected by sampling time. While sampling time affected fungal composition in soil, root fungal communities were also significantly affected by cultivar. The cultivar had the strongest effect on diversity of pathogens and abundance of particular pathogen species. Our results demonstrate changes in soil and root fungal communities of potato over the growing season, as well as highlighting the importance of potato cultivar on root fungal communities and abundance of pathogens.
