Original ResearchPlant inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is increasingly employed
to enhance productivity and sustainability in agricultural ecosystems. In the present
study, the potential benefits of AMF inoculation on young grapevines replanted in
pots containing vineyard soil with high Cu concentration were evaluated. For this
purpose, one-year-old cv. Touriga Nacional grapevines grafted onto 1103P rootstocks
were further inoculated with Rhizoglomus irregulare or Funneliformis mosseae, or left
non-inoculated, and maintained in a sterilized substrate under greenhouse conditions
for three months. After this time, half of the plants were transplanted to containers
filled with an Arenosol from a vineyard which had been artificially contaminated
or not with 300mg kg−1 of Cu. At the end of the growing season, soil nutrient
concentration, soil dehydrogenase activity and mycorrhizal colonization rate were
analyzed. Grapevine performance was assessed bymeasuring several vegetative growth
and physiological parameters as well as nutrient concentrations in leaves and roots.
In the non-contaminated soil, R. irregulare- and F. mosseae-inoculated plants had
significantly greater root biomass than the non-inoculated ones. However, the opposite
effect was observed in the Cu-contaminated soil, where non-inoculated plants performed
better regarding shoot and root development. Concerning nutrient levels, an increase
in Cu, Mg and Mn concentrations was observed in the roots of plants growing in
the contaminated soil, although only Mn was translocated to leaves. This led to
a large increase in leaf Mn concentrations, which was significantly higher in noninoculated
and F. mosseae- inoculated plants than in the R. irregulare- inoculated ones.
Copper contamination induced a general decrease in leaf N, P and Fe concentrations
as well as chlorosis symptoms. The largest decrease in N and P was observed in
F. mosseae- inoculated plants, with 73 and 31.2%, respectively. However, these plants
were the ones with the least decrease in Fe concentration (10% vs. almost 30% in
the other two inoculation treatments). In conclusion, this study indicates that soil Cu
levels can modify the outcome of AMF inoculations in young grapevines, disclosing new
AMF-plant associations potentially relevant in vineyards with a tradition of Cu-based
fungicide applicationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio