Features of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community associated with annual ragweed

Ambrosia artemisiifolia is a highly harmful invasive plant of North American origin, belonging to the tribe Heliantheae of the subfamily Asteroideae. One of the factors influencing the competitive ability of invasive Asteraceae species includes mutualistic relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. There is a hypothesis that the effectiveness of this symbiosis is influenced by the phylogenetic position and the origin of species. The aim of our work was to identify the characteristics of the AM-fungi community associated with annual ragweed. It was shown that the community is less diverse than closely related species from the tribe Astereae. The major difference is that the AM-community contains only widespread species of the order Glomerales, such as Glomus spp. and Funneliformis mosseae. It is possible that other factors have a greater influence on the A. artemisiifolia competition.