Response of fungal endophyte communities within Andropogon gerardii (Big bluestem) to nutrient addition and herbivore exclusion

Fungal endophytes may alter plant responses to the environment, but how does environment affect communities of fungal symbionts within plants? We examined impact nutrient addition and herbivore exclusion on endophyte prairie grass Andropogon gerardii in a full factorial field experiment. Fungi were cultured from stems, young leaves, mature ITS sequences obtained, incidence, community richness, composition analyzed. Results indicate that plots where treatments had been applied separately, or evenness did not differ, greater species richness was observed with combination, compared other treatments. Further, although significantly different stem leaf tissues, OTU all plus treatments, regardless tissue type. Our results distinct found tissues respond similarly environmental factors.