Linking the community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plants: a story of interdependence?

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are crucial to plants and vice versa, but little is known about the factors linking the community structure of the two groups. We investigated the association between AMF and the plant community structure in the nearest neighborhood of Festuca brevipila in a semiarid grassland with steep environmental gradients, using high-throughput sequencing of the Glomeromycotina (former Glomeromycota). We focused on the Passenger, Driver and Habitat hypotheses: (i) plant communities drive AMF (passenger); (ii) AMF communities drive the plants (driver); (iii) the environment shapes both communities causing covariation. The null hypothesis is that the two assemblages are independent and this study offers a spatially explicit novel test of it in the field at multiple, small scales. The AMF community consisted of 71 operational taxonomic units, the plant community of 47 species. Spatial distance and spatial variation in the environment were the main determinants of the AMF community. The structure of the plant community around the focal plant was a poor predictor of AMF communities, also in terms of phylogenetic community structure. Some evidence supports the passenger hypothesis, but the relative roles of the factors structuring the two groups clearly differed, leading to an apparent decoupling of the two assemblages at the relatively small scale of this study. Community phylogenetic structure in AMF suggests an important role of within-assemblage interactions

Effects of soil pH and arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) inoculation on growth and chemical composition of chia (Salvia hispanica L.) leaves

In this study, chemical composition and growth responses of chia plants (Salvia hispanica L.) to inoculation with an arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM, Glomus mosseae, Nicol. & Gerd.) fungal inoculum (namely MC10) under the influence of soil pH were investigated. The experiment project included six treatments, i.e., control-non-arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (NAMF, pH 7.1), control-arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF, pH 7.1), acid-NAMF (pH 5.1), acid-AMF (pH 5.1), alkaline-NAMF (pH 8.2), and alkaline-AMF (pH 8.2). Stunted growth and leaf chlorosis were noticed mainly in plants grown in soil with acidic pH. An increase in fresh biomass was attained in plants amended with AM fungi in alkaline soil pH. Alkaline sandy soil with low levels of available P stimulated AMF colonization of chia roots, which subsequently enhanced P uptake and translocation in plant tissues. Total proteins, carbohydrates, and total fat content in leaves increased in AMF-inoculated plants in neutral and alkaline soil pH, while only fat content enhanced under acidic soil pH. MC10 inoculum resulted in reduced levels of total phenolics under alkaline conditions, whereas under acidic soil resulted in increased levels compared to the non-inoculated plants. The predominant fatty acids of chia leaves were palmitic (18.3 %), a-linolenic (17.1 %), pentadecenoic (11.0 %), linoleic (7.5 %), oleic (7.5 %), and stearic (6.3 %). Higher concentration of stearic, oleic, linoleic, and a-linolenic acids was observed in the leaves of chia plants grown on control (neutral pH) and alkaline soil in the presence of the MC10 inoculum. Alkaline soil combined with AM inoculation enhanced the nutritional value of chia leaves. © 2015, Botanical Society of Sao Paulo

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi regulate soil respiration and its response to precipitation change in a semiarid steppe

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are critical links in plant–soil continuum and play a critical role in soil carbon cycles. Soil respiration, one of the largest carbon fluxes in global carbon cycle, is sensitive to precipitation change in semiarid ecosystems. In this study, a field experiment with fungicide application and water addition was conducted during 2010–2013 in a semiarid steppe in Inner Mongolia, China, and soil respiration was continuously measured to investigate the influences of AMF on soil respiration under different precipitation regimes. Results showed that soil respiration was promoted by water addition treatment especially during drought seasons, which induced a nonlinear response of soil respiration to precipitation change. Fungicide application suppressed AMF root colonization without impacts on soil microbes. AMF suppression treatment accelerated soil respiration with 2.7, 28.5 and 37.6 g C m(−2) across three seasons, which were mainly caused by the enhanced heterotrophic component. A steeper response of soil respiration rate to precipitation was found under fungicide application treatments, suggesting a greater dampening effect of AMF on soil carbon release as water availability increased. Our study highlighted the importance of AMF on soil carbon stabilization and sequestration in semiarid steppe ecosystems especially during wet seasons

Bare soil cover and arbuscular mycorrhizal community in the first montane forest restoration in Central Argentina

Soil erosion affects extensive areas worldwide and must be urgently reduced promoting plant cover and beneficial microorganisms associated with plants, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In mountain environments, plant cover is difficult to enhance due to harsh conditions during the dry season and steep slopes. Our objective was to evaluate the percentage of the soil surface covered by plants and the AMF community associated with trees 12.5 years after planting during forest restoration efforts in microsites at different levels of soil degradation. The study was performed in the first montane forest restoration initiative of Central Argentina, where one of the trials consisted of planting Polylepis australis saplings at microsites with different levels of soil degradation: high, intermediate, and low. After 12.5 years, percentage of bare soil cover was significantly reduced by 36 and 37% in the high and intermediate degradation microsites, respectively. Low degradation microsites were initially very low in bare soil and did not significantly change. Mycorrhizal colonization, hyphae, vesicles, arbuscules, AMF diversity, and community structure were similar among microsite types. Percentage of hyphal entry points was higher at microsites with low degradation, number of spores was higher in high and intermediate degradation, and species richness was higher in high degradation. Acaulospora and Glomus were the most abundant genera in all microsites. We conclude that even in the most degraded microsites around 2.8% of the bare soil is covered by vegetation each year and that the arbuscular mycorrhizal community is highly tolerant and adapted to soils with different disturbance types.Fil: Becerra, Alejandra Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Divan, Adriana Carina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Renison, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentin