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Diversity and functions of arbuscular mycorrhizal and soil fungi
with oxidative potential in grasslands
with different levels of plant diversity
People
Francois Buscot, Project P.I.
Carsten Renker, Project P.I.
Stephan König, Ph.D.-student
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Rationale
Fungi influence plant biodiversity and its role for ecosystem functioning. This new subproject in the Jena Experiment aims at enlightening this influence and its mechanisms in grassland ecosystems for two key groups, the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and soil fungi with oxidative potential. Specificities between plant and fungal partners of AM symbioses will be characterized on grassland monoculture plots. In poly-culture plots with different biodiversity levels and combinations of species and functional groups, the interdependence between species richness of plants and of AMF as well as variations in mycorrhization intensity will be investigated. A labeling experiment with 15N and 13C and fungicide treatment will serve to specify more precisely the role played by AMF mycelial networks for resource partitioning between plant species and functional groups. In plots with different plant biodiversity levels and species compositions, the diversity and expression profiles of fungal genes encoding laccases, oxidative exoenzymes common in fungi, will be related to the measured nitrogen mineralization and organic matter accumulation in the soil.
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GERMAN