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Changes in soil microbiota alter root exudation and rhizosphere pH of the gypsum endemic Ononis tridentata L.

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Abstract

Background and aims

Plants living on gypsum are adapted to uptake nutrients in extremely poor alkaline soils. Under such extreme conditions, processes affecting the chemical conditions of the rhizosphere may be crucial for plant survival and growth. Rhizosphere acidification in plants living on gypsum soils has never been reported before and the effect of root exudation and microbes on the rhizosphere pH remains undescribed.

Methods

In this study we cultivated seeds of the gypsum specialist Ononis tridentata in rhizoboxes with natural gypsum soil and with gypsum soil with reduced microbiota, and monitored changes in the rhizosphere pH with planar optodes coupled to a calibrated image recording system. Soil microbial life was estimated with PLFAs analyses and root exudation was characterised.

Results

The reduced microbiota treatment decreased both fungal and microbial presence. Plants grown in natural soil, with unaltered presence of soil microbiota, had lower rhizosphere pH. However, in the microbial-reduced treatment we found higher root exudation of several organic acids and alcohols such as malonic and isocitric acids and sorbitol-mannitol. Interestingly, plant biomass was not significantly altered by treatments.

Conclusion

The natural soil microbiota contributed to acidify alkaline gypsum soils, likely improving nutrient availability. However, O. tridentata seedlings grown in microbial-reduced soils seemed to compensate the effects of microbes through increased root exudation, attaining similar growth both in natural and microbial-reduced soils. These seedlings seemed to be adapted to soil where microbial abundance fluctuates.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

We thank J. Revilla for help with the rhizoboxes design, M. Perez-Serrano for assistance during harvesting, Gregor Liebsch for the support with VisiSens™ ScientifiCal Software management, A. Cera for useful comments on the results of the manuscript and V. Temperton and four anonymous referees for valuable comments to earlier versions of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Government [MICINN, CGL2015–71360-P and PID2019-111159GB-C31], and by European Union’s Horizon 2020 [H2020-MSCA-RISE-777803 GYPWORLD]. LP was funded by fellowship FSE-Aragón 2014–2020 by Gobierno de Aragón, Spain; J.M.I. was supported by Project “CLU-2019-05 – IRNASA/CSIC Unit of Excellence”, funded by the Junta de Castilla y León and co-financed by the European Union (ERDF “Europe drives our growth”), JPF and SP were supported by Reference Groups S74_23R and E03_23R, respectively (Gobierno de Aragón, Spain).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE-CSIC), Av. Nuestra Señora de la Victoria, 16, 22700, Jaca, Huesca, Spain

    Laura de la Puente & Sara Palacio

  2. Faculty of Sciences of Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma, Spain

    Lola Echevarría

  3. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Salamanca CSIC, Salamanca, Spain

    José M. Igual

  4. ARAID-Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), Av. Montañana, 930, ES-505009, Zaragoza, Spain

    Juan Pedro Ferrio

  5. Unidad Asociada Grupo de Interacción Planta-Microorganismo, Universidad de Salamanca- IRNASA-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain

    José M. Igual

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  1. Laura de la Puente
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  3. José M. Igual
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Contributions

L.P. and L.E wrote the manuscript and prepared figures and tables, J.M.I interpreted PLFAs analysis and prepared the Figure associated; S.P & J.P.F designed the study and revised the manuscript critically, contributing with intellectual contents.

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Correspondence to Laura de la Puente.

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de la Puente, L., Echevarría, L., Igual, J.M. et al. Changes in soil microbiota alter root exudation and rhizosphere pH of the gypsum endemic Ononis tridentata L.. Plant Soil (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-024-06691-x

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