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Autotoxicity of root exudates varies with species identity and soil phosphorus

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Abstract

Root exudate autotoxicity (i.e. root exudates from a given plant have toxic effects on itself) has been recognized to be widespread. Here we examined how plant species identity and soil phosphorus (P) availability influenced this autotoxicity and the possible stoichiometric mechanisms. We conducted an experiment with three species (Luctuca sativa, Sesbania cannabina, and Solidago canadensis), which were subject to four treatments consisting of activated carbon (AC) and soil P. AC addition increased the whole-plant biomass of each species under high P conditions and this AC effect varied strongly with species identity. For Solidago, the relative increase in whole-plant biomass due to AC addition was larger in the low P than in the high P. Root exudate autotoxicity differed between roots and shoots. AC addition decreased root N:P ratios but failed to influence shoot N:P ratios in three species. These findings suggest that soil P enrichment might mediate root exudate autotoxicity and that this P-mediated autotoxicity might be related to root N and P stoichiometry. These patterns and their implications need to be addressed in the context of plant communities.

Highlights

  • Root exudate autotoxicity varied with species identity and soil P.

  • Root exudate autotoxicity differed between roots and shoots.

  • P-mediated autotoxicity might be related to N:P ratios.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (2017YFC1200102) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31570538).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100093, Beijing, China

    Zhen-Kai Sun & Wei-Ming He

  2. Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, 100091, Beijing, China

    Zhen-Kai Sun

  3. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China

    Wei-Ming He

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  1. Zhen-Kai Sun
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Correspondence to Wei-Ming He.

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Sun, ZK., He, WM. Autotoxicity of root exudates varies with species identity and soil phosphorus. Ecotoxicology 28, 429–434 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-019-02035-z

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