02196nas a2200217   4500008004100000245008100041210006900122300001500191490000800206520156800214653001601782653002301798653001401821653001501835100001801850700001701868700001501885700001701900700001701917856004401934       2010                        eng d00aResource limitation is a driver of local adaptation in mycorrhizal symbioses0 aResource limitation is a driver of local adaptation in mycorrhiz  a2093 -20980 v1073 a<p>Symbioses may be important mechanisms of plant adaptation to their environment. We conducted a reciprocal inoculation experiment to test the hypothesis that soil fertility is a key driver of local adaptation in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses. Ecotypes of Andropogon gerardii from phosphorus-limited and nitrogen-limited grasslands were grown with all possible &ldquo;home and away&rdquo; combinations of soils and AM fungal communities. Our results indicate that Andropogon ecotypes adapt to their local soil and indigenous AM fungal communities such that mycorrhizal exchange of the most limiting resource is maximized. Grasses grown in home soil and inoculated with home AM fungi produced more arbuscules (symbiotic exchange structures) in their roots than those grown in away combinations. Also, regardless of the host ecotype, AM fungi produced more extraradical hyphae in their home soil, and locally adapted AM fungi were, therefore, able to sequester more carbon compared with nonlocal fungi. Locally adapted mycorrhizal associations were more mutualistic in the two phosphorus-limited sites and less parasitic at the nitrogen-limited site compared with novel combinations of plants, fungi, and soils. To our knowledge, these findings provide the strongest evidence to date that resource availability generates evolved geographic structure in symbioses among plants and soil organisms. Thus, edaphic origin of AM fungi should be considered when managing for their benefits in agriculture, ecosystem restoration, and soil-carbon sequestration.</p>10acoevolution10ageographic mosaics10amutualism10aparasitism1 aJohnson, N.C.1 aWilson, G.T.1 aBowker, M.1 aWilson, J.A.1 aMiller, R.M.  uhttps://www.pnas.org/content/107/5/2093