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Hydraulic conductivity and aquaporin transcription in roots of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) seedlings colonized by Laccaria bicolor

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Abstract

Ectomycorrhizal fungi have been reported to increase root hydraulic conductivity (L pr) by altering apoplastic and plasma membrane intrinsic protein (PIP)-mediated cell-to-cell water transport pathways in associated roots, or to have little effect on root water transport, depending on the interacting species and imposed stresses. In this study, we investigated the water transport properties and PIP transcription in roots of aspen (Populus tremuloides) seedlings colonized by the wild-type strain of Laccaria bicolor and by strains overexpressing a major fungal water-transporting aquaporin JQ585595. Inoculation of aspen seedlings with L. bicolor resulted in about 30 % colonization rate of root tips, which developed dense mantle and the Hartig net that was restricted in the modified root epidermis. Transcript abundance of the aspen aquaporins PIP1;2, PIP2;1, and PIP2;2 decreased in colonized root tips. Root colonization by JQ585595-overexpressing strains had no significant impact on seedling shoot water potentials, gas exchange, or dry mass; however, it led to further decrease in transcript abundance of PIP1;2 and PIP2;3 and the significantly lower L pr than in non-inoculated roots. These results, taken together with our previous study that showed enhanced root water hydraulics of L. bicolor-colonized white spruce (Picea glauca), suggest that the impact of L. bicolor on root hydraulics varies by the ectomycorrhiza-associated tree species.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded through Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery grants to J.J. Zwiazek and J.E.K. Cooke, and Universidad Nacional de Quilmes (UNQ), Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT), and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) grants to M. Kemppainen and A. Pardo. We thank Dr. Jiyoung Jang and Dr. Alfonso Navarro-Rodenas for sharing aspen PIP primers for qRT-PCR analysis, Ms. Arlene Oatway for her expert guidance on microscopy, and Mr. Bernard Daigle and Mr. Dale Simpson (National Tree Seed Centre, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service) for providing aspen seeds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E3, Canada

    Hao Xu & Janusz J. Zwiazek

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E9, Canada

    Janice E. K. Cooke

  3. Laboratorio de Micología Molecular, Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Bernal, Argentina

    Minna Kemppainen & Alejandro G. Pardo

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  1. Hao Xu
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Correspondence to Janusz J. Zwiazek.

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Xu, H., Cooke, J.E.K., Kemppainen, M. et al. Hydraulic conductivity and aquaporin transcription in roots of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) seedlings colonized by Laccaria bicolor . Mycorrhiza 26, 441–451 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-016-0681-8

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