scholarly journals Routes to Roots: Direct Evidence of Water Transport by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi to Host Plants

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kakouridis ◽  
John A. Hagen ◽  
Megan P. Kan ◽  
Stefania Mambelli ◽  
Lewis J. Feldman ◽  
...  

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form symbiotic associations with 80% of surveyed land plant species and are well-recognized for accessing and transferring nutrients to plants1. Yet AMF also perform other essential functions, notably improving plant-water relations2. Some research attributes the role of AMF in plant-water relations solely to enhancing plant nutrition and osmoregulation for plants partnered with AMF3,4,5, while indirect evidence suggests AMF may transport water to plants1,6,7. Here, we used isotopically-labeled water and a fluorescent dye to directly track and quantify water transport by AMF to plants in a greenhouse experiment. We specifically assessed whether AMF can access water in soil unavailable to plants and transport it across an air gap to host plants. Plants grown with AMF that had access to a physically separated 18O-labeled water source transpired twice as much, and this transpired water contained three times as much label compared to plants with AMF with no access to the separated labeled water source. We estimated that water transported by AMF could explain 46.2% of the water transpired. In addition, a fluorescent dye indicated that water was transported via an extracytoplasmic hyphal pathway.

Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 370
Author(s):  
Murugesan Chandrasekaran

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate symbionts of higher plants which increase the growth and nutrient uptake of host plants. The primary objective was initiated based on analyzing the enormity of optimal effects upon AMF inoculation in a comparative bias between mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants stipulated on plant biomass and nutrient uptake. Consequently, in accomplishing the above-mentioned objective a vast literature was collected, analyzed, and evaluated to establish a weighted meta-analysis irrespective of AMF species, plant species, family and functional group, and experimental conditions in the context of beneficial effects of AMF. I found a significant increase in the shoot, root, and total biomass by 36.3%, 28.5%, and, 29.7%, respectively. Moreover, mycorrhizal plants significantly increased phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium uptake by 36.3%, 22.1%, and 18.5%, respectively. Affirmatively upon cross-verification studies, plant growth parameters intensification was accredited to AMF (Rhizophagus fasciculatus followed by Funniliforme mosseae), plants (Triticum aestivum followed by Solanum lycopersicum), and plant functional groups (dicot, herbs, and perennial) were the additional vital important significant predictor variables of plant growth responses. Therefore, the meta-analysis concluded that the emancipated prominent root characteristics, increased morphological traits that eventually help the host plants for efficient phosphorus uptake, thereby enhancing plant biomass. The present analysis can be rationalized for any plant stress and assessment of any microbial agent that contributes to plant growth promotion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Dong ◽  
Xin Guo ◽  
Keyu Chen ◽  
Shijie Ren ◽  
Muhammad Atif Muneer ◽  
...  

Plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can form complex symbiotic networks based on functional trait selection, contributing to the maintenance of ecosystem biodiversity and stability. However, the selectivity of host plants on AMF and the characteristics of plant-AMF networks remain unclear in Tibetan alpine meadows. In this study, we studied the AMF communities in 69 root samples from 23 plant species in a Tibetan alpine meadow using Illumina-MiSeq sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene. The results showed a significant positive correlation between the phylogenetic distances of plant species and the taxonomic dissimilarity of their AMF community. The plant-AMF network was characterized by high connectance, high nestedness, anti-modularity, and anti-specialization, and the phylogenetic signal from plants was stronger than that from AMF. The high connected and nested plant-AMF network potentially promoted the interdependence and stability of the plant-AMF symbioses in Tibetan alpine meadows. This study emphasizes that plant phylogeny and plant-AMF networks play an important role in the coevolution of host plants and their mycorrhizal partners and enhance our understanding of the interactions between aboveground and belowground communities.


Author(s):  
M.-Miao Xie, Q.-Sheng Wu

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) represent positive effects on growth performance, nutrient absorption and stressed tolerance of host plants, whereas it is not clear whether AMF can affect flowering traits of ornamental plants. In this work, Diversispora spurca, D. versiformis, and Funneliformis mosseae were applied to rhizosphere of potted hyacinth (Hyacinths orientalis L. Anna Marie) plants. After four months of mycorrhizal inoculation, root could be colonized by exogenous AMF species, varied from 38% to 49%, whilst F. mosseae had the best mycorrhizal status. Out of these AMF species used, only F. mosseae-inoculated plants recorded greater raceme length and biomass production of single flowerlet, raceme, and flower stem. F. mosseae also induced the flowering earlier in 2 days and prolonged flowering time for 3 days. D. versiformis postponed 2 days for flowering. Mycorrhizal plants recorded considerably higher acetic acid (IAA) and zeatin riboside (ZR) levels in flowers, irrespective of AMF species. F. mosseae-inoculated plants had significantly higher methyl jasmonate (MeJA) concentrations in flowers than other AMF- or non-AMF-treated plants. These results thereby conclude that F. mosseae can be used to regulate flowering of H. orientalis L. Anna Marie, including flowering earlier and prolonging flowering time, which is closely associated with IAA, ZR and MeJA levels in flowers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 608-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopal Selvakumar ◽  
Kiyoon Kim ◽  
Denver Walitang ◽  
Mak Chanratana ◽  
Yeongyeong Kang ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Josefina Bompadre ◽  
Mariana Pérgola ◽  
Laura Fernández Bidondo ◽  
Roxana Paula Colombo ◽  
Vanesa Analía Silvani ◽  
...  

The capacity of roots to sense soil physicochemical parameters plays an essential role in maintaining plant nutritional and developmental functions under abiotic stress. These conditions generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant tissues causing oxidation of proteins and lipids among others. Some plants have developed adaptive mechanisms to counteract such adverse conditions such as symbiotic association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). AMF enhance plant growth and improve transplant survival by protecting host plants against environmental stresses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the alleviation of transplanting stress by two strains ofRhizophagus irregularis(GC2 and GA5) in olive. Our results show that olive plants have an additional energetic expense in growth due to an adaptative response to the growing stage and to the mycorrhizal colonization at the first transplant. However, at the second transplant the coinoculation improves olive plant growth and protects against oxidative stress followed by the GA5-inoculation. In conclusion, a combination of two AMF strains at the beginning of olive propagation produces vigorous plants successfully protected in field cultivation even with an additional cost at the beginning of growth.


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