Arbuscular mycorrhizal community in soil from different Brazilian Cerrado physiognomies

Abstract The Brazilian Cerrado represents an important hotspot of biodiversity but how different Cerrado physiognomies shape the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) community remain poorly understood. We hypothesize that differences in plants and soil properties found across the Cerrado physiognomies would influence the AM community. Thus, soil samples were collected from different physiognomies of Cerrado as follows: Campo graminoide (CG), Cerrado stricto sensu (CSS), and Cerradao (CD). AM community was assessed by 18S rRNA gene sequencing. Glomus was the most abundant genera found in all physiognomies. AM richness and diversity did not change across Cerrado physiognomies. Redundancy analysis clustered physiognomies in different groups, in which CG was the most discriminated, mainly by soil pH and temperature. This study showed that a better understanding of the AM community in the Cerrado biome can help to outline strategies for soil and plant conservation more efficiently, ensuring the sustainability of this system and nutrient dynamics.