The Role Dark Septate Endophytes Play in the Success of Tamarix spp.
Alexandra Schuessler*1, Catherine Gehring2, Julia Hull3, Ron Deckert4
1.Northern Arizona University Department of Biological Sciences, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America, ajs762@nau.edu
2.Northern Arizona University Department of Biological Sciences, Merriam Powell Research Station, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America, Catherine.Gehring@nau.edu
3.Northern Arizona University Department of Biological Sciences, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America, Julia.b.hull@gmail.com
4.Northern Arizona University Department of Biological Sciences, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America, endoronimal@gmail.com
Most terrestrial plants form mutualistic relationships with fungi that improve access to soil resources and increase plant growth. Tamarix spp. (tamarisk) are not known to host the most common of these relationships, the mycorrhiza, however, they associate with dark septate endophytes (DSE), which are also found in roots. The ecological role of DSE is not well understood. This study characterized the common DSE found in tamarisk and examined the influence of two of those taxa on tamarisk growth using a greenhouse experiment, that compared the growth of tamarisk cuttings that are inoculated with DSE to sterile inoculated controls. The fungi used were isolated from the roots of tamarisk growing along the Little Colorado River; cuttings from these tamarisk were also taken. The roots were surfaced sterilized and placed on potato dextrose agar for fungal growth. The shoots were planted in sterile soil and allowed to form roots. The fungal community found in tamarisk roots was dominated by Phomopsis, Diaporthe, and Pleosporales which are all known DSE. Phomopsis and Pleosporales were selected as the inoculum for this experiment which is underway. We hypothesize that the fungal inoculum will increase the tamarisk dry biomass, demonstrating a beneficial relationship between the plants and fungi. Understanding these interactions may help to shed light on how tamarisk is changing riparian communities on the Colorado Plateau.