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Cooperation between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and earthworms promotes the physiological adaptation of maize under a high salt stress

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Abstract

Aims

The potential independent and combined effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and earthworms on maize salt tolerance were studied in a high salinity soil.

Methods

This experiment was a 2 × 2 factorial design representing all the combinations of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi with earthworms in a high coastal saline soil. Maize biomass, physiological adaptation, ion transportation, soil aggregates, and soil bacterial community from illumina MiSeq sequence were measured at harvest.

Results

The results indicated that the earthworms and AM fungi increased the maize salt tolerance by decreasing the salt concentrations, increasing the soil macroaggregate proportions, soil bacterial diversity, maize mineral uptake, and photosynthesis. Earthworms primarily increased the soil macroaggregate proportions, root Na content, and shoot nutrient uptakes and proline content. The AM fungi enhanced K selected transportation from the root to the shoot and reduced the shoot malondialdehyde content to promote maize photosynthesis and transpiration. Illumina MiSeq sequencing analysis showed that earthworms and AM fungi decreased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and Fibrobacteres, which was negatively correlated with the soil organic matter. The structural equation model suggests that the soil salt concentration and soil macroaggregate proportions largely contributed to the maize biomass, followed by the shoot K content.

Conclusions

Earthworms and AM fungi enhanced maize salt tolerance by ameliorating the soil chemical, physical and biological characteristics and, subsequently, promoting maize growth in high salinity soil.

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Funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project 31570514), the Key Projects in the National Science & Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period (2013BAD05B03), the Innovative Group Grant of the National Science Foundation of China (31421092), and the National key research and development program (2016YFE0101100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, 2 Yuanmingyuan Xilu, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Wenwen Zhang, Chong Wang, Tianyi Lu & Yanjia Zheng

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Organic Farming, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Wenwen Zhang, Chong Wang, Tianyi Lu & Yanjia Zheng

  3. Key Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Wenwen Zhang, Chong Wang, Tianyi Lu & Yanjia Zheng

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  1. Wenwen Zhang
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  2. Chong Wang
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  3. Tianyi Lu
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  4. Yanjia Zheng
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Correspondence to Chong Wang.

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Zhang, W., Wang, C., Lu, T. et al. Cooperation between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and earthworms promotes the physiological adaptation of maize under a high salt stress. Plant Soil 423, 125–140 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3481-9

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