Fungal diversity in the plant and rhizosphere soil of Valeriana jatamansi Jones

Abstract:

[Background] Valeriana jatamansi Jones has a long history of medical use and is widely used. However, the fungal diversity in the plant and rhizosphere soil of V. jatamansi remains to be reported. [Objective] To explore the diversity and structures of endophytic fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil and different tissues of V. jatamansi and lay a foundation for the development and utilization of endophytic fungal resources in this plant. [Methods] The ITS1 region of fungal rRNA gene was sequenced by the Illumina Miseq PE250 platform to analyze the endophytic fungi in the root, stem, leaf, and rhizosphere soil samples of V. jatamansi. The bioinformatics tools were used to analyze the sequencing results and reveal the fungal community structures in the plant and rhizosphere soil of V. jatamansi. [Results] A total of 1 776 731 valid sequences and 7 399 OTUs were obtained from the root, stem, leaf, and rhizosphere soil samples of V. jatamansi, belonging to 1 269 species, 767 genera, 331 families, 146 orders, 65 classes of 17 phyla. The richness of endophytic fungi followed the trend of rhizosphere soil>stem>root>leaf, and the diversity was in the order of rhizosphere soil>stem>leaf>root. There were 192 common OTUs shared by the four samples, and the number of unique OTUs showed the trend of rhizosphere soil>stem>root>leaf. At the phylum level, the dominant fungi in the root, stem, leaf, and rhizosphere soil samples were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. At the genus level, Hannaella was the dominant genus in the leaf and stem samples, Plectosphaerella was the dominant genus in the root samples, and the unclassified_fungi accounted for a relatively high proportion in the rhizosphere soil samples. The fungal network showed that each genus was associated with one or more genera in the average abundance, most of the genera were positively correlated with each other. [Conclusion] There were abundant endophytic fungal resources in V. jatamansi, and the endophytic fungal community composition showed significant differences in different tissues and rhizosphere soil of the plant. This study explored the biological information of endophytic fungal resources in V. jatamansi, providing a theoretical basis for the protection of V. jatamansi resources and the development and utilization of endophytic fungal resources.