Response to Comment on “Global diversity and geography of soil fungi”

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Authors

Leho Tedersoo · University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden

Mohammad Bahram · University of Tartu

Sergei Põlme · University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden

Sten Anslan · University of Tartu

Taavi Riit · University of Tartu

Urmas Kõljalg · University of Tartu

R. Henrik Nilsson

Abstract

Schadt and Rosling (Technical Comment, 26 June 2015, p. 1438) argue that primer-template mismatches neglected the fungal class Archaeorhizomycetes in a global soil survey. Amplicon-based metabarcoding of nine barcode-primer pair combinations and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–free shotgun metagenomics revealed that barcode and primer choice and PCR bias drive the diversity and composition of microorganisms in general, but the Archaeorhizomycetes were little affected in the global study. We urge that careful choice of DNA markers and primers is essential for ecological studies using high-throughput sequencing for identification.

Topics & Keywords

Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Life in Land

Publication Details

Published in: Science

Volume 349, Issue 6251, pp. 936-936

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa5594

Field-Weighted Citation Impact: 3.73