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Carbon flow from plant to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is reduced under phosphorus fertilization

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Abstract

Background and aims

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are plant root symbionts highly specialized upon phosphorus (P) supply to their hosts. We investigated plants’ ability to regulate carbon (C) flow to AMF depending on the soil P supply.

Methods

Leek (Allium porrum), medic (Medicago truncatula), and ryegrass (Lolium perenne) were subjected to AMF inoculation and/or P fertilization in a glasshouse experiment. The C flows were traced using 13C pulse labelling.

Results

Mycorrhizal P uptake responses were lowered by P fertilization in all tested plant species. Independently from the C flow to the roots, the C flow to AMF-signature fatty acid 16:1ω5 were reduced by P fertilization in leek and ryegrass (but not in medic). Calculated mycorrhizal C costs ranged between 0.9% and 10.5% of the plant C budget.

Conclusions

Suppression of the C flow from the plants to AMF resulted from both reduced abundance of AMF in the roots and lowered relative C income per unit of AMF biomass in P-fertilized pots. Although inconsistencies amongst different plant species demand caution in making generalizations, these results suggest an active role of host plants in regulating the C flow to AMF.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by projects LK11224 and LO1417 granted by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, by project 14-19191S granted by the Czech Science Foundation, and by the long-term development program RVO61388971. Constructive comments by three anonymous reviewers and the editor are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 5, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Tereza Konvalinková

  2. Laboratory of Fungal Biology, Institute of Microbiology, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20, Prague 4, Czech Republic

    Tereza Konvalinková, David Püschel, Veronika Řezáčová, Hana Gryndlerová & Jan Jansa

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  1. Tereza Konvalinková
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  2. David Püschel
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  3. Veronika Řezáčová
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Correspondence to Tereza Konvalinková.

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Konvalinková, T., Püschel, D., Řezáčová, V. et al. Carbon flow from plant to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is reduced under phosphorus fertilization. Plant Soil 419, 319–333 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3350-6

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