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Special Issue "State-of-the-Art Mycorrhizal Fungi in South America"

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A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbial Diversity and Culture Collections".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2023 | Viewed by 6031

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marcela Pagano

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Guest Editor

Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais, 30421-169 Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Interests: terrestrial ecology; sustainability; fungi; mycorrhizas

Prof. Dr. Mónica Lugo

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Guest Editor

Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas (IMIBIO-CONICET-UNSL), San Luis 5700, Argentina
Interests: mycorrhizal fungi diversity; mycorrhizal ecology; plant-fungi associations; arid highlands

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Diversity Journal is about to launch a Special Issue dedicated to Mycorrhizal Biodiversity.

Mycorrhizal fungi are involved in the symbioses with most terrestrial plants including native or exotic trees, grasses, pastures, invasive plants and crops. The determinants of fungal and, specially, mycorrhizal diversity are poorly understood; however new reports would compile more information, useful for understanding these terrestrial symbioses governed by plants. It is expected that the number of known mycorrhizal fungi is higher than the presently estimated as most habitats and microsites remain underinvestigated. To compile these studies on the identified fungal species from South America will help to develop new estimations of biodiversity, which certainly will have an impact in global and climate change studies that are the basement of sustainable ecosystems. To study the diversity of mycorrhizas will help in ecosystem restoration, agroecosystems, food and agropecuary production worldwide. This special issue dedicated to mycorrhizas will document the diversity of these fungi in South America, where natural and special habitats are investigated by at least ten specialized groups of professors, researchers and students dedicated to their study. As a key component of the interface plant-soil in natural and impacted ecosystems, the different mycorrhizal aspects presented in South America are showed in this new Special Issue dedicated to Mycorrhizal Fungi Biodiversity and Ecology.

Dr. Marcela Pagano
Prof. Dr. Mónica Lugo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Mycorrhizal Fungi
Soil Biodiversity
Ecosystem Services
Food Security

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Presence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizae and Cadmium Content in the Plants and Soils of Cocoa Plantations in San Martin, Peru

Bernabé Luis-Alaya

Marcia Toro

Rocío Calsina

Katty Ogata-Gutiérrez

Alejandra Gil-Polo

Ernesto Ormeño-Orrillo

and

Doris Zúñiga-Dávila

Diversity 2023, 15(2), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15020246 - 09 Feb 2023

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Abstract

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is an important crop in Peru. International regulations require products derived from cocoa to be free of heavy metals (HMs), such as cadmium. Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) contribute to reduced HM content in the plant, preventing its accumulation in the fruit and facilitating the rhizodeposition of HMs through glomalin-related soil proteins (GRSP). We studied the presence of mycorrhizal symbiosis in cocoa plants and cadmium in three plantations in San Martín, Peru. The maximum Cd content detected in soils was 1.09 (mg/kg), an amount below the tolerable limit for agricultural soil (≥1.4 mg/kg). Cocoa roots showed 68–86% active mycorrhizal colonization; agronomic management did not cause differences between plantations. Levels of GRSP were between 7.67 (GRSP-EE) and 13.75 (GRSP-T) mg protein g soil⁻¹. Morphological and molecular analysis of Glomeromycota fungi showed the presence of families Claroideoglomeraceae, Paraglomeraceae, Gigasporaceae, Glomeraceae, Acaulosporaceae, Archaeosporaceae, and Diversisporaceae. Our results show the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in cocoa plantations and suggest that T. cacao may phytostabilize HM in its rhizosphere through the production of GRSP. The presence of mycorrhizal symbiosis indicates the potential for the preparation of biofertilizers for cocoa since the production of GRSP is promissory for the biostabilization of soil HMs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Mycorrhizal Fungi in South America)

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Open AccessArticle

Richness of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in a Brazilian Tropical Shallow Lake: Assessing an Unexpected Assembly in the Aquatic-Terrestrial Gradient

Stephania Ruth Basilio Silva Gomes

Mariana Bessa de Queiroz

Juliana Aparecida Souza Leroy

Juliana Luiza Rocha de Lima

Fúlvio Aurélio de Morais Freire

Khadija Jobim

Francisco Adriano de Souza

and

Bruno Tomio Goto

Diversity 2022, 14(12), 1046; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14121046 - 29 Nov 2022

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Abstract

Aquatic ecosystems are historically overlooked regarding the occurrence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). Tropical lakes in the southern hemisphere are generally impacted by human actions, such as those in Brazil, although they still preserve a great diversity of macrophyte species that can support AMF communities. Thus, the study aimed to test (i) whether AMF community structure (composition, richness, diversity, dominance, and evenness) differs between aquatic and terrestrial conditions, and (ii) between seasons—rainy and dry. A total of 60 AMF species, distributed in 10 families and 17 genera, were found, with a difference in AMF composition between conditions (terrestrial and aquatic) and seasons (dry and rainy). The absolute species richness differed between conditions, seasons, and interactions. The aquatic/rainy season, which retrieved the most significant number of species, had the highest absolute richness and number of glomerospores and differed significantly from the terrestrial/rainy season. The results suggest that a shallow oligotrophic lake harbors a high AMF richness. In addition, this environment has a distinct AMF community from the adjacent coastal sand plain vegetation and is affected by seasonality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Mycorrhizal Fungi in South America)

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Figure 1

Open AccessArticle

Diversity and Benefits of Arbuscular Mycorrhizae in Restored Riparian Plantations

Marcela Claudia Pagano

Eduardo J. Azevedo Correa

Mónica A. Lugo

and

Neimar F. Duarte

Diversity 2022, 14(11), 938; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14110938 - 02 Nov 2022

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Abstract

Due to the increasing use of vegetation for fuel wood, cattle, agriculture, and due to population pressure that negatively affects biodiversity values, more plantations are needed to obtain a permanent vegetal cover. Attention has been paid to microbial interactions (arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM)) for management and inoculation. To evaluate the benefits of inoculation, the root colonization of inoculated seedlings, soil aggregation, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) diversity were examined by two field treatments (fertilized with organic matter (OM) vs. fertilized with natural rock phosphate (P)). The preserved and experimental areas presented higher AMF spore number and richness (nine species) than the degraded areas. The addition of OM or P did not improve root colonization by AMF; however, it was a guarantee for a successful restoration as, in the restored fields, a high soil aggregation was found, in addition to a high root colonization, spore number, and richness of AMF. However, the undisturbed site presented the more prominent values. This study showed that AMF are important components in riparian areas, and it brings information for inoculant production in ecological restoration using mixed plantations, contributing to the establishment of mycorrhizal vegetation and soil aggregation that not only benefit AM plants, but also allow non-host plants in degraded areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Mycorrhizal Fungi in South America)

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Open AccessArticle

Discovering the Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Two Cultivation Practices of Theobroma cacao

Angela Pacheco Flores de Valgaz

Jaime Naranjo-Morán

Guillermo Reyes Román

Javier Oviedo-Anchundia

Maria Ratti Torres

and

Milton Barcos-Arias

Diversity 2022, 14(8), 651; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080651 - 12 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1614

Abstract

In recent years, new data on the diversity of genera and species in the phylum Glomeromycota continue to be added and rearranged. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are key to plant nutrition and agriculture. Studies report different short- and long-term cultivation practices that influence the abundance and diversity of Glomeromycota. To the best of our knowledge, there are no known studies of the fungal communities in the fine aroma cocoa cultivars. In this context, our work aims to discover the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizae associated with two cocoa cultivation practices (conservative and semi-conservative) through the isolation of spores using microscopy and metabarcoding of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS). Morphological analysis showed that the density of Glomeromycota spores exhibited significant differences between production systems. Although the metabarcoding analysis showed that diversity indices showed a higher increase in the roots than in the cocoa soil, independently of the cultivation practice. An abundance of 348 and 114 taxa were observed, corresponding to the conservative and semi-conservative practices, respectively. Seven genera were observed for the first time in cocoa crop agroforestry systems, including P. scintillans, R. diaphanus, R. fasciculatus, R. custos, D. disticha, M. perpusilla, and D. bernensis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Mycorrhizal Fungi in South America)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

Ericaceous Plants: A Review for the Bioprospecting of Ericoid Mycorrhizae from Ecuador

Angela Pacheco Flores de Valgaz

and

Diversity 2022, 14(8), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080648 - 12 Aug 2022

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Abstract

Ericaceae are a group of plants with biotechnological and commercial importance. These plants establish symbiotic associations with a wide group of mycorrhizal fungi. National and global studies have focused on two of them: arbuscular endomycorrhizae and ectomycorrhizae. The most recent type of mycorrhiza recorded is the cavendishioid ectendomycorrhizae. The cavendishioid is one of the least-studied and understood mycorrhizae, along with monotropoid and arbutoid mycorrhizae. Among the potentialities of these ectendomycorrhizae are the alleviation of environmental stress, the facilitation of establishment, survival, the ability to form dual mycorrhizae, and their importance as a fundamental biological element of plant ecological successions. However, the factors that influence or correlate with the diversity of some of these fungal guilds, as well as the functional significance of their associations, are still unknown. The present review focuses on ericoid mycorrhiza from Ecuador in order to promote their study and thus take advantage of the benefits that they provide to endemic species and those of commercial interest. This material contributes significantly to reducing research gaps and channeling applied projects in the biological sciences. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Mycorrhizal Fungi in South America)

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