Ectomycorrhizal community associated to Pinus radiata D. Don plantations in the Western Cape, South Africa: preliminary results.

The ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbiosis involves a large number of plant and fungal taxa worldwide, dominating woodland and forest communities in boreal, temperate and Mediterranean forests, as well as savanna and rain forest habitats. ECM fungi are one of the most important elements of forest ecosystems, connecting, transferring and stocking water and nutrients through a complex system of hyphal networks and also creating a defense barrier for the root tips against soil pathogens. The benefits that ECM fungi grant on their associated plants are: increased survival, improved growth, greater drought tolerance and resistance to disease. Until now, ECM research has not received much attention in South Africa, in forests and in plantations, in terms of understanding the ECM species and the functional community composition. The main goal of this study was to describe the ECM fungal community present belowground in 4 Pinus radiata D. Don plantations in the Western Cape, South Africa. ECM species were identified using morpho-anatomical and molecular (restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing) analyses. The preliminary results showed 28 ECM anatomotypes identified. Further studies in these Western Cape pine plantations are being developed to investigate the ECM community according to a gradient of water stress, to verify a change in species diversity or shift in species composition and to determine the ECM species most resistant to drought. The results obtained from this study are completely new and relevant to South African forestry, showing high potential applications in the industry throughout southern Africa, especially prospecting new applications in the forestry nursery