Abstract

Soil microbial communities play a vital role in ecosystem functioning by enhancing mineral nutrition and protecting forest trees against pathogens through mycorrhizal symbiosis. However, knowledge of the diversity and assemblage of belowground fungal communities associated with native host trees in tropical Africa is incomplete. Using high-throughput sequencing, this study examined soil fungal communities in the rhizosphere of five ectomycorrhizal trees (EcM) from (5) countries using ITS and LSU regions.  Unconstrained ordination of fungal species was performed using principal component analysis based on their EcM tree rhizosphere affiliation. The ANOSIM test assessed the similarity between the fungal community composition associated with the EcM trees. Overall, 90 species belonging to 84 genera, 71 families, 40 orders and 4 phyla were identified. Soil fungal communities were host specific (P = 0.001). Basidiomycota were more frequently observed in the rhizosphere of Fabaceae, except for I. doka, whereas Ascomycota are more abundant in the rhizosphere of Phyllanthaceae (U. togoensis) and Dipterocarpaceae (M. kerstingii). The genus Sebacina is predominantly linked to M. kerstingii and I. tomentosa, while Russula is dominant under B. grandiflora and, Inocybe with I. tomentosa.  This study provides new insights into in the rhizosphere of native forest trees in West Africa and highlights areas for future research.

Key words: DNA metabarcoding, ectomycorrhizal association, molecular species, Soil microorganisms, soil fungi, timber trees.