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Root apical meristems ofAllium porrum L. as affected by arbuscular mycorrhizae and phosphorus

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Summary

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi significantly improve plant growth in soils with low phosphorus availability and cause many changes in root morphology, similar to those produced by increased P nutrition, mainly depending on root apex size and activity. The aim of this work was to discriminate between the morphogenetic role of AM fungi and P in leek (Allium porrum L.) by feeding mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants with two nutrient solutions containing 3.2 or 96 μM P and examining specific parameters related to adventitious root apices (apex size, mitotic cycle, and RNA synthesis). The results showed that AM fungi blocked meristem activity as indicated by the higher percentages of inactive apices and metaphases in the apical meristem of mycorrhizal plants, whereas the high P supply lengthened the mitotic cycle without blocking the apices, resulting in steady, slow root growth. The possible involvement of abscisic acid in the regulation of root apex activity is discussed.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

AM:

arbuscular mycorrhizae

CI and CII:

nonmycorrhizal control plants grown with low or high phosphorus concentration

MI and MII:

mycorrhizal plants grown with low or high phosphorus concentration

PGR:

plant growth regulator

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, Università di Torino, Viale Mattioli 25, I-10125, Torino, Italy

    A. Fusconi, A. Trotta, S. Brazzaventre & S. Scannerini

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Pisa

    A. M. Tagliasacchi & F. Ruberti

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Avanzate, Università del Piemonte Orientale “A. Avogadro”, Alessandria

    G. Berta

Authors
  1. A. Fusconi
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  2. A. M. Tagliasacchi
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  3. G. Berta
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  4. A. Trotta
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  5. S. Brazzaventre
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  6. F. Ruberti
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  7. S. Scannerini
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Correspondence to A. Fusconi.

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Fusconi, A., Tagliasacchi, A.M., Berta, G. et al. Root apical meristems ofAllium porrum L. as affected by arbuscular mycorrhizae and phosphorus. Protoplasma 214, 219–226 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279066

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279066

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