Microbial communities in roots of Pinus sylvestris seedlings with damping-off symptoms in two forest nurseries as determined by ITS1/2 rDNA sequencing

P>A methodological molecular procedure, which included extraction and cloning of the ITS1/2 rDNA of root-associated organisms with subsequent transformation and sequencing of representative clones, was effective for detection, discrimination and determination of the frequency of the main damping-off pathogens in roots of Pinus sylvestris seedlings growing in different forest-tree nursery soils and exhibiting different rates of disease progress. Roots exhibiting slower damping-off progression were colonized by Fusarium oxysporum, Neonectria radicicola (Ascomycota) and Pythium spp. (Oomycota), which comprised 50% of the microbial community. Roots exhibiting faster damping-off progression were dominated by Thanatephorus cucumeris (Basidiomycota), which comprised 80% of the microbial community. The microbial community was more diverse in roots with slower damping-off progression (14 species) than in roots with faster disease progression (seven species).