The 'fertile island effect' of Welwitschia plants on soil microbiota is influenced by plant gender.
The 'fertile island effect' of Welwitschia plants on soil microbiota is influenced by plant gender.
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DOI：
10.1093/femsec/fiaa186
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发表时间：
2020-09
影响因子：
4.2
通讯作者：
T. Doniger;Jonathan M Adams;E. Marais;G. Maggs-Kölling;C. Sherman;Dorsaf Kerfahi;Ying Yang;Y. Ste
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
T. Doniger;Jonathan M Adams;E. Marais;G. Maggs-Kölling;C. Sherman;Dorsaf Kerfahi;Ying Yang;Y. Ste
沙漠和半沙漠植物通常与植物下方和靠近根系的独特土壤生物群有关。我们的目的是了解在纳米布沙漠中分离的沙漠裸子植物mirabilis Welwitschia是否也存在类似的效应，以及这种岛屿效应是否随气候和植物性别的变化而变化。我们在从极端沙漠到干旱灌木的环境中，以及在植物之间的附近控制地点，取了植物附近的土壤芯。分析土壤化学，提取细菌16s区DNA并测序。植物下的土壤富含有机碳、氮和水分。尽管气候变化很大，威威草植物周围的土壤始终与特定的细菌群落组成有关，这与更远的样本不同。与没有植被的对照斑块相比，靠近植物的细菌多样性减少。在与植物相关的土壤群落中，所有样地均存在明显的性别效应，雄性植物下的群落组成不同，多样性更大。目前尚不清楚土壤环境中的哪些差异可能会产生这些与性别有关的差异，这为肥沃岛屿效应提供了一个额外的维度。
Desert and semi-desert plants are often associated with a distinct soil biota under the plants and close to the root system. We aimed to understand if similar effects could be found in the taxonomically isolated desert gymnosperm Welwitschia mirabilis in the Namib Desert, and whether this island effect varied with climate and with gender of plants. We took soil cores adjacent to the plants in environments ranging from extreme desert to arid shrubland, and in nearby control sites between the plants. Soil chemistry was analysed, and DNA was extracted and sequenced for the bacterial 16s region. Soil under the plants was richer in organic C, N, and moisture. Despite the range of climates, the soil around Welwitschia plants was consistently associated with a particular bacterial community composition that was distinct from samples further away. Compared to unvegetated control patches, bacterial diversity close to the plants was reduced. In the plant-associated soil community, there was a clear gender effect across all sites with a distinct community composition and greater diversity under male plants. It is unclear what differences in the soil environment might be producing these gender-associated differences, which provide an additional dimension to the fertile island effect.