Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Transfer of 14C-photosynthate to the sporocarp of an ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria amethystina

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Mycorrhiza Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sporocarps of ectomycorrhizal fungi are strong carbon sinks for the source in host trees, but the details of carbon transfer from the host to the sporocarp are unknown. In this study, single seedlings of Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) colonised by Laccaria amethystina were grown on floral foam plates fitted in rhizoboxes, resulting in fruiting on the substrate. The seedlings were photosynthetically labelled with 14CO2; 14C-labelled photosynthate transfer from leaves to sporocarps was then chased using a time-course autoradiography technique. 14C was transferred to healthy, fresh sporocarps in a purple colour ranging from primordial to elongate sporocarps, but hardly to senesced ones that had faded to white or grey, or browned. This suggested that C is transferred only to physiologically active sporocarps. Two seedlings associated with a growing sporocarp were labelled again 7 and 16 days after the first labelling, respectively. 14C accumulation in the sporocarps rose in a stepwise manner after the second labelling, indicating that sporocarps mainly used recently rather than previously photosynthesised C.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen MF (1991) The ecology of mycorrhizae. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson IC, Cairney JWG (2007) Ectomycorrhizal fungi: exploring the mycelial frontier. FEMS Microbiol Rev 31:388–406

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brownlee C, Duddridge JA, Malibari A, Read DJ (1983) The structure and function of mycelial systems of ectomycorrhizal roots with special reference to their role in forming inter-plant connections and providing pathways for assimilate and water transport. Plant Soil 71:433–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cairney JWG (2005) Basidiomycete mycelia in forest soils: dimensions, dynamics and roles in nutrient distribution. Mycol Res 109:7–20

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chapela IH, Osher LJ, Horton TR, Henn MR (2001) Ectomycorrhizal fungi introduced with exotic pine plantations induce soil carbon depletion. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1733–1740

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Courty PE, Buée M, Diedhiou AG, Frey-Klett P, Le Tacon F, Rineau F, Turpault MP, Uroz S, Garbaye J (2010) The role of ectomycorrhizal communities in forest ecosystem processes: new perspectives and emerging concepts. Soil Biol Biochem 42:679–698

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cromack K Jr, Sollins P, Graustein WC, Speidel K, Todd AW, Spycher G, Li CY, Todd RL (1979) Calcium oxalate accumulation and soil weathering in mats of the hypogeous fungus Hysterangium crassum. Soil Biol Biochem 11:463–468

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlberg A, Jonsson L, Nylund J-E (1997) Species diversity and distribution of biomass above and below ground among ectomycorrhizal fungi in an old-growth Norway spruce forest in south Sweden. Can J Bot 75:1323–1335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finlay RD, Read DJ (1986) The structure and function of the vegetative mycelium of ectomycorrhizal plants. I. Translocation of 14C-labelled carbon between plants interconnected by a common mycelium. New Phytol 103:143–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fogel R, Hunt G (1983) Contribution of mycorrhizae and soil fungi to nutrient cycling in a Douglas-fir ecosystem. Can J For Res 13:219–232

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fogel R, Trappe JM (1978) Fungus consumption (mycophagy) by small animals. Northwest Sci 52:1–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Godbout C, Fortin JA (1990) Cultural control of basidiome formation in Laccaria bicolor with container-grown white pine seedlings. Mycol Res 94:1051–1058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godbout C, Fortin JA (1992) Effects of nitrogen fertilization and photoperiod on basidiome formation of Laccaria bicolor associated with container-grown jack pine seedlings. Can J Bot 70:181–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Högberg P, Nordgren A, Buchmann N, Taylor AFS, Ekblad A, Högberg MN, Nyberg G, Ottosson-Löfvenius M, Read DJ (2001) Large-scale forest girdling shows that current photosynthesis drives soil respiration. Nature 411:789–792

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kües U, Liu Y (2000) Fruiting body production in basidiomycetes. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 54:141–152

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuikka K, Härmä E, Markkola A, Rautio P, Roitto M, Saikkonen K, Ahonen-Jonnarth U, Finlay R, Tuomi J (2003) Severe defoliation of scots pine reduces reproductive investment by ectomycorrhizal symbionts. Ecology 84:2051–2061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamhamedi MS, Godbout C, Fortin JA (1994) Dependence of Laccaria bicolor basidiome development on current photosynthesis of Pinus strobus seedlings. Can J For Res 24:1797–1804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Last FT, Pelham J, Mason PA, Ingleby K (1979) Influence of leaves on sporophore production by fungi forming sheathing mycorrhizas with Betula spp. Nature 280:168–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leake JR, Donnelly DP, Saunders EM, Boddy L, Read DJ (2001) Rates and quantities of carbon flux to ectomycorrhizal mycelium following 14C pulse labeling of Pinus sylvestris seedlings: effects of litter patches and interaction with a wood-decomposer fungus. Tree Physiol 21:71–82

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marx DH (1969) The influence of ectotrophic mycorrhizal fungi on the resistance of pine roots to pathogenic infections. I. Antagonism of mycorrhizal fungi to root pathogenic fungi and soil bacteria. Phytopathology 59:153–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Pestaña M, Santolamazza-Carbone S (2011) Defoliation negatively affects plant growth and the ectomycorrhizal community of Pinus pinaster in Spain. Oecologia 165:723–733

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Read DJ (1984) The structure and function of the vegetative mycelium of mycorrhizal roots. In: Jennings DH, Rayner ADM (eds) The ecology and physiology of the fungal mycelium. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 215–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid CPP, Woods FW (1969) Translocation of 14C-labeled compounds in mycorrhizae and its implications in interplant nutrient cycling. Ecology 50:179–187

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith SE, Read D (2008) Mycorrhizal symbiosis, 3rd edn. Academic, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Söderström B, Read DJ (1987) Respiratory activity of intact and excised ectomycorrhizal mycelial systems growing in unsterilized soil. Soil Biol Biochem 19:231–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teste FP, Simard SW, Durall DM, Guy RD, Berch SM (2010) Net carbon transfer between Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca seedlings in the field is influenced by soil disturbance. J Ecol 98:429–439

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vogt KA, Grier CC, Meier CE, Edmonds RL (1982) Mycorrhizal role in net primary production and nutrient cycling in Abies amabilis ecosystems in western Washington. Ecology 63:370–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu BY, Nara K, Hogetsu T (2001) Can 14C-labeled photosynthetic products move between Pinus densiflora seedlings linked by ectomycorrhizal mycelia? New Phytol 149:137–146

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu BY, Nara K, Hogetsu T (2002) Spatiotemporal transfer of carbon-14-labelled photosynthate from ectomycorrhizal Pinus densiflora seedlings to extraradical mycelia. Mycorrhiza 12:83–88

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 21248018 and No. 23380080) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Science, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Munemasa Teramoto, Bingyun Wu & Taizo Hogetsu

Authors
  1. Munemasa Teramoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bingyun Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Taizo Hogetsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Munemasa Teramoto.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Teramoto, M., Wu, B. & Hogetsu, T. Transfer of 14C-photosynthate to the sporocarp of an ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria amethystina . Mycorrhiza 22, 219–225 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-011-0395-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-011-0395-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation