Colonización micorrízica y comunidades de hongos micorrizógenos arbusculares en plantas medicinales del bosque templado “Agua Escondida”, Taxco, Guerrero, México  <span class="so-article-trans-title" dir="auto"> Translated title: Mycorrhizal colonization and communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in medicinal plants of the temperate forest “Agua Escondida”, Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico </span>

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Abstract

Resumen Antecedentes: El conocimiento de las comunidades de hongos micorrizógenos arbusculares (HMA) en plantas medicinales de bosques templados de México es escaso. Objetivos: Evaluar la colonización micorrízica y comunidades de HMA en la rizosfera de plantas medicinales en un bosque de pino-encino en Taxco, Guerrero, México. Métodos: Se seleccionaron 14 plantas medicinales mediante transectos, de cinco individuos de cada especie vegetal se recolectaron raíces para evaluar la colonización micorrízica y, sólo en diez especies suelo rizosférico para determinar la estructura de la comunidad de HMA. Resultados y conclusiones: Catorce especies de plantas medicinales fueron identificadas, todas presentaron colonización micorrízica arbuscular (15.3-73.3 %). La estructura de la comunidad de HMA determinada en diez especies medicinales no varió en abundancia de esporas, riqueza de especies ni índices de diversidad; sin embargo, se encontró una relación significativa entre la composición de las especies de HMA con la identidad de la planta medicinal y propiedades del suelo. Este estudio contribuye al conocimiento de la colonización micorrízica y comunidades de HMA en plantas medicinales. En total se reporta una riqueza de 30 especies de HMA; lo que representa un 9.5 % y 19.9 % de la riqueza específica conocida a nivel mundial y nacional respectivamente.

Translated abstract

Abstract Background: Knowledge of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) communities associated with medicinal plants in the temperate forests of Mexico is poorly researched. Objectives: To determine the mycorrhizal colonization and evaluate the AMF communities associated with the rhizosphere of medicinal plants growth in a pine-oak forest in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico. Methods: Fourteen medicinal plants were selected through transects and roots were collected from five individuals of each plant species to evaluate mycorrhizal colonization and, in only ten species, also rhizosphere soil to determine the structure of the AMF community. Results and conclusions: Fourteen medicinal plants species were identified and all the specimens presented arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization (15.3-73.3 %). The structure of the AMF community determined in the ten medicinal plants did not vary in spore abundance, species richness or diversity indices; however, a significant relationship was found between the composition of AMF species with the identity of the medicinal plant and soil properties. This study contributes to the knowledge of the mycorrhizal colonization and the AMF communities associated at medicinal plants. In total, a richness of 30 AMF species is reported; which represents 9.5 % and 19.9 % of the specific richness of AMF known worldwide and nationally respectively.

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The unseen majority: soil microbes as drivers of plant diversity and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems.

Marcel van der Heijden, Richard D Bardgett, Nico van Straalen (2008)

Microbes are the unseen majority in soil and comprise a large portion of life's genetic diversity. Despite their abundance, the impact of soil microbes on ecosystem processes is still poorly understood. Here we explore the various roles that soil microbes play in terrestrial ecosystems with special emphasis on their contribution to plant productivity and diversity. Soil microbes are important regulators of plant productivity, especially in nutrient poor ecosystems where plant symbionts are responsible for the acquisition of limiting nutrients. Mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing bacteria are responsible for c. 5-20% (grassland and savannah) to 80% (temperate and boreal forests) of all nitrogen, and up to 75% of phosphorus, that is acquired by plants annually. Free-living microbes also strongly regulate plant productivity, through the mineralization of, and competition for, nutrients that sustain plant productivity. Soil microbes, including microbial pathogens, are also important regulators of plant community dynamics and plant diversity, determining plant abundance and, in some cases, facilitating invasion by exotic plants. Conservative estimates suggest that c. 20 000 plant species are completely dependent on microbial symbionts for growth and survival pointing to the importance of soil microbes as regulators of plant species richness on Earth. Overall, this review shows that soil microbes must be considered as important drivers of plant diversity and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems.

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Mycorrhizas and nutrient cycling in ecosystems - a journey towards relevance?

D Read, Pedro Pérez-Moreno (2003)

Progress towards understanding the extent to which mycorrhizal fungi are involved in the mobilization of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from natural substrates is reviewed here. While mycorrhiza research has emphasized the role of the symbiosis in facilitation of capture of these nutrients in ionic form, attention has shifted since the mid-1980s to analysing the mycorrhizal fungal abilities to release N and P from the detrital materials of microbial faunal and plant origins, which are the primary sources of these elements in terrestrial ecosystems. Ericoid, and some ectomycorrhizal fungi have the potential to be directly involved in attack both on structural polymers, which may render nutrients inaccessible, and in mobilization of N and P from the organic polymers in which they are sequestered. The advantages to the plant of achieving intervention in the microbial mobilization-immobilization cycles are stressed. While the new approaches may initially lack the precision achieved in studies of readily characterized ionic forms of N and P, they do provide insights of greater ecological relevance. The results support the hypothesis that selection has favoured ericoid and ectomycorrhizal systems with well developed saprotrophic capabilities in those ecosystems characterized by retention of N and P as organic complexes in the soil. The need for further investigation of the abilities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to intervene in nutrient mobilization processes is stressed.