In: Sydowia 72, (2020): 107-114; ISSN 0082-0598, DOI 10.12905/0380.sydowia72-2020-0107; Published online on May 28, 2020

Fungal microbiota in the seeds of the clonal plant
Iris sibirica – a threatened species in Europe

Ewa Wegrzyn1, Martyna Dominiak-Swigon1, Karolina Górzynska1, Julian Chmiel1, Konrad Switalski2 & Marlena Lembicz1,*

1 Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Biology, Department of Systematic and Environmental Botany, Uniwersytetu
Poznanskiego 6, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
2 Agricultural University, Department of Forest Botany, Wojska Polskiego 28, 60-624 Poznan, Poland
*e-mail: lembicz@amu.edu.pl
Wegrzyn E., Dominiak-Swigon´ M., Górzynska K., Chmiel J., Switalski K. & Lembicz M. (2020) Fungal microbiota in the seeds
of the clonal plant Iris sibirica – a threatened species in Europe. – Sydowia 72: 107–114.

Endophytes, including fungal endophytes, are the first organisms that colonize young plants and are subsequently transmitted
to mature plants and their seeds. In a clonal plant with several reproductive episodes, fungal endophytes are transmitted to
offspring many times and accumulate in a plant body and population. In our study, we examined the presence of fungal endophytes
and their taxonomic diversity in the seeds of the clonal plant Iris sibirica. In six studied localities of I. sibirica in Poland,
which represented three habitat types, 12 taxa of fungal endophytes from Ascomycota were recorded. Two taxa were most abundantly
represented: Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea. The greatest taxonomical differentiation of endophytes was found
in the seeds from anthropogenic habitats. The largest number of seeds with endophytes was noted in oak forest habitats (88.33 %),
while the smallest number was noted in grassland habitats (55 %). This is the first report on the occurrence of endophytic fungi
in seeds of a critically endangered species in Europe.

Key words: fungal endophytes, meta-holobiont, ramets, perennial plant.