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AMF components from a microbial inoculum fail to colonize roots and lack soil persistence in an arable maize field

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Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are root obligate biotrophs that provide the host with nutrients and pathogen protection, in exchange of photosynthetic products. A decline in AMF diversity can reduce the overall benefit for host plants. A sustainable strategy to re-establish AMF diversity is to supply the target soil with AMF inoculants. After inoculation, it is essential to verify whether the inoculants successfully colonize the host plant and persist, and if the resident AMF community is affected. The AMF components of a microbial inoculum (including other saprotrophs) that was applied to maize were identified and traced in field by 454-pyrosequencing of the partial rRNA 18S gene. In addition, mycorrhizal colonization and plant biomass were monitored in inoculated and non-inoculated maize. The inoculated AMF taxa failed to colonize roots and lacked soil persistence. Nevertheless, the inoculation process reduced species dominance and increased diversity in the pre-existing AMF community. No differences were seen between mycorrhizal colonization in treated and control maize. We suggest that the slightly significant increase in treated plant biomass was potentially due to (i) marginally colonizing inoculated AMF that remained unseen and other saprotroph inoculants applied and/or (ii) the effect of inoculation on the pre-existing AMF community in treated maize roots.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Giusto Giovannetti, Giorgio Masoero, and Chiara Bottazzini for the technical support and for their assistance in the experimental work. The authors are grateful to Alessandro Desirò for sharing the unpublished molecular primer AMADF. This study was financially supported by Regione Piemonte (PRO-LACTE project).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, UOS Torino - National Research Council, Torino, Italy

    Andrea Berruti, Erica Lumini & Valeria Bianciotto

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  1. Andrea Berruti
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  2. Erica Lumini
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  3. Valeria Bianciotto
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Correspondence to Andrea Berruti.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary Data 1

OTU table with OTU taxonomic affiliation (family and genus/clade). Closest Virtual Taxon, hit accession code, percentage identity, alignment length in bp, sequencing depth per sample prior to subsampling, and number of OTUs per sample are also reported. Abbreviations: CR = control root sample, CS1 = extraction replicate n.1 for control soil sample, CS2 = extraction replicate n.2 for control soil sample, IN = inoculum sample, TR = treated root sample, TS1 = extraction replicate n.1 for treated soil sample, and TS2 = extraction replicate n.2 for treated soil sample (XLSX 14 kb)

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Berruti, A., Lumini, E. & Bianciotto, V. AMF components from a microbial inoculum fail to colonize roots and lack soil persistence in an arable maize field. Symbiosis 72, 73–80 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-016-0442-7

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