CLAPP, JUSTIN, ALASTAIR FITTER & PETER YOUNG.
Department of Biology, University of York, PO Box 373, York YO1 5YW, UK.
Roots of bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) were sampled from a woodland in Yorkshire, UK, and Scutellospora spores were extracted from the surrounding soil. Partial small subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA sequences were amplified from roots and spores using either the universal forward primer SS38 or the primer VANS1, which was designed by L Simon to amplify all Glomales, with the reverse primer VAGIGA in both cases. Amplification products were cloned and sequenced. Both spores and roots yielded sequences related to those of known Glomales; most were putatively from Scutellospora. Up to four distinct sequences were obtained from a single spore, confirming previous findings based on ITS. The VANS1 binding site varied considerably in sequence, and only a subset of the sequences were amplified when the VANS1 primer was used. Besides Glomales sequences, a large number of quite different sequences, apparently from ascomycetes, were obtained from roots, and even occasionally from spores, when the SS38-VAGIGA primer combination was used.