Fungal community assembly in soils of different crops farming in the Puna (North Argentina)

Soil microbial ecosystems and its functioning are under the threat of biodiversity loss by the increase of cultivated areas and agronomic exploitation intensity. Among the diverse soil microorganisms, fungi and in particular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) carry out important ecological functions and are considered excellent bioindicators. Even if most ecosystems harbour diverse AMF communities, so far, the information related to AMF biodiversity in ecosystems like the Argentinean Puna, an arid-high plateau where plants experience high abiotic-stresses and unique extreme distinctive environmental conditions are still scarce. The objective of this research was to analyse in Chaupi Rodeo (Jujuy, Argentina), fungal community assembly in soils of 3 crops species: native corn, bean and native potato, under a familiar land use, without the supplements of agrochemicals but with different histories of crops rotation. Results indicate that AMF spores were most abundant in corn plots, followed by potato and bean. A high AMF diversity was confirmed by Illumina MiSeq data on the same plots. The results suggest that soil fungal, and AMF communities were significantly affected by the rotation histories, with less effect of current crops species. Among soil fungi, Ascomycota phylum was dominant over Basidiomycota, Glomeromycota and Chytridiomycota phyla.