Identification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is nowadays commonly performed on the basis of DNA sequences. Species-level identification is possible if a reference database containing sequences originating in expert-identified specimens. However, majority of sequences obtained from environmental studies do not match such reference sequences, being apparently “new” species. The paper introduces the concept of virtual taxonomy which aims to classify such data, stored and systematized in the database MaarjAM. Virtual taxa are phylogenetically defined sequence groups which are based on a type sequence to make them consistent in time, but they also evolve as new data becomes available. Virtual taxonomy standardises the original sequence designations, and allows comparison and consistency between studies, much like traditional binomial taxonomic nomenclature. Virtual taxonomy has been used in our team since 2009, and is increasingly used by other research groups. 

Jaak-Albert Metsoja, Lena Neuenkamp and Martin Zobel studied the restoration potential of the persistent soil seed bank (SB) in abandoned flooded meadows in central Estonia. Although SB similarity to locally defined target vegetation was <20%, the proportion of typical flooded meadow species in SB remained high (up to 42%) even after 50-yr abandonment. SB could thus play an important role in the restoration of abandoned meadows. Read the full article.

Senior Research Fellow of Plant Ecology Lab, Maarja Öpik is now an editor in the journal New Phytologist. Congratulations for the new and exciting task! Read also the article addressing mycorrhizas and the journal New Phytologist. 

Our lab is happy to welcome new members: PhD student Maret Gerz and master student Siim-Kaarel Sepp!