The plant–mycorrhizal fungi collaboration gradient depends on plant functional group

Abstract

Plant colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is widespread and can offer considerable benefits in terms of growth, nutrient uptake and plant yield. However, it is still unresolved how different plant species and plant functional groups respond to AMF and to different AMF taxa. Here we established 336 grassland microcosms to determine the response of 14 plant species displaying contrasting functional groups (grasses, legumes and non‐leguminous forbs) for the presence of three different AMF taxa. For each plant species, we calculated the degree to which plant growth depended on AMF colonization (i.e. mycorrhizal dependency [MD]). We also determined the degree to which each plant species relied on specific AMF taxa for optimal growth (i.e. mycorrhizal species sensitivity [MSS]). Additionally, we determined whether MD and MSS correlated to specific plant traits (i.e. specific root length [SRL], specific leaf area [SLA]). The plant growth response to AMF ranged from −84.9% for a non‐mycorrhizal plant (Luzula campestris) to +94.0% for a legume (Trifolium arvensis). The MD was systematically higher in legumes (91.9% ± 2.4%), followed by non‐leguminous forbs (77.1% ± 11.06) and grasses (42.1% ± 15.73%). MSS was less variable (8.9%–37.7%); it was independent of plant functional group and did not correlate with MD. MD was linked to various mycorrhizal plant parameters, including AMF colonization (R2 = +0.80) and total dry biomass (R2 = +0.32). Moreover, among mycorrhizal plants (n = 12), MD negatively correlated with SRL (R2 = −0.24) and positively with SLA (R2 = +0.24). Synthesis. This study shows that plants relying on AMF for biomass production also show higher root colonization, lower SRL, higher SLA and that different plant traits are interlinked with the way how plants respond to AMF. Overall, this study further demonstrates that different plant functional groups vary in their response to AMF. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Their Associations in South America: A Case Study of Argentinean and Brazilian Cattle Raising Productive Ecosystems: A Review

“…Our results demonstrating the important role of pH as driver of AMF diversity distribution between grassy ecosystems in Argentina and Brazil are consistent with those previously reported for bacteria and other fungi [136] and for protists [137], although both studies identified precipitation as an important additional driver. Moreover, pH has been found as the shaper of AMF diversity worldwide [120,121,131,[133][134][135], in agreement with the AMF community's behavior analyzed in South America for grasslands and pastures in this work. At the same time, it is clear that there remain unmeasured factors that may be important drivers of AM fungal performance or may underlie associations with other variables, such as those identified here [135,138].…”

“…Our results demonstrating the important role of pH as driver of AMF diversity distribution between grassy ecosystems in Argentina and Brazil are consistent with those previously reported for bacteria and other fungi [136] and for protists [137], although both studies identified precipitation as an important additional driver. Moreover, pH has been found as the shaper of AMF diversity worldwide [120,121,131,[133][134][135], in agreement with the AMF community's behavior analyzed in South America for grasslands and pastures Local environmental conditions and the spatial distance between sites are also important drivers of AMF community structure [117][118][119]. In line with this, Hazard et al [120] demonstrated that landscape-scale distribution of AMF taxa is driven by the local environment, especially by abiotic factors, including pH, rainfall, and soil type [120,121].…”

“…Moreover, pH has been found as the shaper of AMF diversity worldwide [120,121,131,[133][134][135], in agreement with the AMF community's behavior analyzed in South America for grasslands and pastures Local environmental conditions and the spatial distance between sites are also important drivers of AMF community structure [117][118][119]. In line with this, Hazard et al [120] demonstrated that landscape-scale distribution of AMF taxa is driven by the local environment, especially by abiotic factors, including pH, rainfall, and soil type [120,121]. In our study, pH was the only edaphic-environmental factor that showed a moderate correlation (p = 0.0235) with species richness.…”

A symbiotic footprint in the plant root microbiome

“…It is well known that other plant traits (e.g., specific root length or root diameter) that likely co-vary with symbiosis type also influence root microbiome composition [reviewed in 45 ]. For instance, a recent study demonstrated that grasses have a higher specific root length (e.g., longer roots per gram root) compared to herbs and legumes [ 46 ]. However, as most of the plant species included in our present study are herbs and legumes, it is less likely that differences in specific root lengths were a major driver of changes in microbiome composition.…”

Resistance of Mycorrhizal Cinnamomum camphora Seedlings to Salt Spray Depends on K+ and P Uptake

“…The data further corroborate that plant biomass is positively correlated with the uptake of N, P, and K + (Figure S2). Generally, mycorrhizal benefits for plant growth are mainly ascribed to the mycorrhiza-mediated improvement in plant P [22,60]. However, the present study showed that mycorrhizal efficiency was mainly enhanced by N uptake (Figure 7D), which may be because C. camphora seedlings were exposed to N limitation during biomass production (Figure 5) [61].…”