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Spatial distribution and turnover of root-derived carbon in alfalfa rhizosphere depending on top- and subsoil properties and mycorrhization

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Abstract

Aims

This study analyzed the extent to which root exudates diffuse from the root surface towards the soil depending on topsoil and subsoil properties and the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal hyphae on root-derived C distribution in the rhizosphere.

Methods

Alfalfa was grown in three-compartment pots. Nylon gauze prevented either roots alone or roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal hyphae from penetrating into the rhizosphere compartments. 14CO2 pulse labeling enabled the measurement of 14C-labeled exudates in dissolved (DOC) and total organic carbon (TOC) in the rhizosphere, distributed either by diffusion alone or by diffusion, root hair and hyphal transport.

Results

Root exudation and microbial decomposition of exudates was higher in the rhizosphere with topsoil compared to subsoil properties. Exudates extended over 28 mm (DOC) and 20 mm (TOC). Different soil properties and mycorrhization, likely caused by the low arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization of roots (13 ± 4 % (topsoil properties) and 18 ± 5 % (subsoil properties)), had no effect.

Conclusions

Higher microbial decomposition compensated for higher root exudation into the rhizosphere with topsoil properties, which resulted in equal exudate extent when compared to the rhizosphere with subsoil properties. Higher 14C activity used for labeling compared with previous studies enabled the detection of low exudate concentrations at longer distances from the root surface.

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Acknowledgments

We highly acknowledge the support of this study by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the DFG Research group 1320 “Crop Sequences and the Nutrient Acquisition from the Subsoil”. We thank Prof. Dr. Egbert Matzner and Uwe Hell (Department of Soil Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Germany) for providing the equipment for soil solution sampling using micro suction cups. We further thank Luise Olbrecht (Research Institute Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART, Zurich, Switzerland) for the determination of root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhiza. We further thank two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Silke Hafner, Ekaterina Stolnikova & Yakov Kuzyakov

  2. Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse190, CH-8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Guido L. B. Wiesenberg

  3. Department of Agroecosystem Research, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Klara Merz

  4. Department of Agricultural Soil Science, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Yakov Kuzyakov

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  1. Silke Hafner
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  2. Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
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Correspondence to Silke Hafner.

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Responsible Editor: Tatsuhiro Ezawa.

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Hafner, S., Wiesenberg, G.L.B., Stolnikova, E. et al. Spatial distribution and turnover of root-derived carbon in alfalfa rhizosphere depending on top- and subsoil properties and mycorrhization. Plant Soil 380, 101–115 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2059-z

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