Effects of two contrasted arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal isolates on nutrient uptake by Sorghum bicolor under drought

• Published in: Mycorrhiza Vol. 28; no. 8; pp. 779 - 785
• Main Authors: Symanczik, Sarah, Lehmann, Moritz F., Wiemken, Andres, Boller, Thomas, Courty, Pierre-Emmanuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2018; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Agriculture; Arbuscular mycorrhizas; Arid climates; Aridity; biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Colonization; Crop production; Drought; Drought resistance; drought tolerance; Ecology; ecosystems; Endemic plants; Environmental impact; Environmental Sciences; Forestry; Fungi; Host plants; hyphae; Life Sciences; Limiting factors; Microbiology; Microcosms; mycorrhizal fungi; Nitrogen; Nitrogen isotopes; Nutrient uptake; Phosphorus; phosphorus content; Plant growth; Plant Sciences; Plants (botany); Rhizophagus arabicus; Rhizophagus irregularis; Semiarid climates; semiarid zones; Short Note; soil; Soil water; Sorghum; Sorghum bicolor; stable isotopes; Strain; Symbiosis; temperate zones; Transpiration; Vegetal Biology; vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae; Water regimes; water stress; Sorghum; Drought; Isotopes; Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis; Nitrogen transfer
• ISSN: 0940-6360; 1432-1890; 1432-1890
• DOI: 10.1007/s00572-018-0853-9

Drought is a limiting factor for crop production, especially in arid and semi-arid climates. In this study, Sorghum bicolor plants were inoculated, or not, with Rhizophagus irregularis , an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) strain typical for temperate climates, or Rhizophagus arabicus , a strain endemic to hyper-arid ecosystems. Plants were grown under well-watered or drought conditions in compartmented microcosms. Transpiration rates, plant growth, and nutrient uptake (using 15 N as a tracer) were determined to assess the impact of drought stress on sorghum plants in AM symbiosis. Although AM colonization did not affect the bulk biomass of host plants, R. arabicus improved their transpiration efficiency and drought tolerance more than R. irregularis . Moreover, R. arabicus was able to extract more 15 N from the soil under both water regimes, and AM-driven enhancement of the nitrogen and phosphorus content of sorghum, especially when water was limiting, was greater for R. arabicus- inoculated plants than for R. irregularis -inoculated plants. Our work demonstrates close links between AM hyphal phosphorus and nitrogen transport and uptake by AM plants for both AM fungal species. It also underscores that, under the drought stress conditions we applied, R. arabicus transfers significantly more nitrogen to sorghum than R. irregularis .