Spatiotemporal dynamics of endophytic fungal diversity in the roots of Amomum villosum Lour

This study aims to investigate the colonization and diversity of endophytic fungi in Amomum villosum roots under different planting locations and growth ages and to analyze the fungal composition. In this study, we performed Illumina-based ITS rDNA sequencing to investigate the effects of growth ages, and sample plots on the rhizosphere fungi of A. villosum . The results of the colonization analysis showed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSEs) widely colonized the roots of A. villosum , but the colonization abundance no longer increased significantly with increasing growth age. Glomus was the dominant AMF, and Exophiala , Cladosporium and Cladophialophora were the dominant DSEs. Phoma , Acremonium , Myrothecium and Trichoderma were supposed to be the dominant beneficial fungi. Alpha and beta diversity showed that the diversity, abundance and community composition of root fungi were not significantly correlated with growth ages but were affected by planting locations. Taken together, the diversity and abundance of fungal communities in the roots differed significantly by planting location, and some were affected by the growth ages of A. villosum . DSEs were considered to be dominant beneficial microorganisms and were largely responsible for the growth and development of A. villosum , weakening continuous cropping obstacles.