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Nickel tolerance of serpentine and non-serpentine Knautia arvensis plants as affected by arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

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Abstract

Serpentine soils have naturally elevated concentrations of certain heavy metals, including nickel. This study addressed the role of plant origin (serpentine vs. non-serpentine) and symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in plant Ni tolerance. A semi-hydroponic experiment involving three levels of Ni and serpentine and non-serpentine AMF isolates and populations of a model plant species (Knautia arvensis) revealed considerable negative effects of elevated Ni availability on both plant and fungal performance. Plant growth response to Ni was independent of edaphic origin; however, higher Ni tolerance of serpentine plants was indicated by a smaller decline in the concentrations of photosynthetic pigments and restricted root-to-shoot Ni translocation. Serpentine plants also retained relatively more Mg in their roots, resulting in a higher shoot Ca/Mg ratio. AMF inoculation, especially with the non-serpentine isolate, further aggravated Ni toxicity to host plants. Therefore, AMF do not appear to be involved in Ni tolerance of serpentine K. arvensis plants.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support of the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (project KJB600050812) is gratefully acknowledged. Additional support was supplied by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (a long-term research development project no. RVO 67985939) and by Charles University in Prague (project SVV 265203/2012). The authors would like to thank M. Albrechtová and her team from the analytical laboratory of the Institute of Botany AS CR for their chemical analyses of plant biomass. Valuable comments of the anonymous reviewers on the earlier version of the manuscript are also highly appreciated.

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  1. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic

    Pavla Doubková & Radka Sudová

  2. Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Pavla Doubková

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  1. Pavla Doubková
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Correspondence to Pavla Doubková.

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Doubková, P., Sudová, R. Nickel tolerance of serpentine and non-serpentine Knautia arvensis plants as affected by arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Mycorrhiza 24, 209–217 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-013-0532-9

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