| Research Articles |
|
|
|
|
| Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improved plant growth and nutrient acquisition of desert ephemeral Plantago minuta under variable soil water conditions |
| ZhaoYong SHI1,2,3, Bede MICKAN3, Gu FENG2, YingLong CHEN3,4 |
1 College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, China;
2 College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China;
3 School of Earth and Environment, the University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia;
4 State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China |
|
|
|
Abstract Desert ephemeral plants play an important role in desert ecosystem. Soil water availability is considered as the major restrictive factor limiting the growth of ephemeral plants. Moreover, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM fungi) are widely reported to improve the growth of desert ephemerals. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis of that AM fungi could alleviate drought stress of desert ephemeral Plantago minuta, and AM fungal functions reduced with the improvement of soil water content. A pot ex-periment was carried out with three levels of soil water contents (4.5%, 9.0%, and 15.8% (w/w), and three AM inoculation treatments (Glomus mosseae, Glomus etunicatum and non-inoculation). The results indicate that mycorrhizal colonization rate decreased with the increase of soil water availability. Inoculation improved plant growth and N, P and K acquisition in both shoots and roots regardless water treatments. When comparing the two fungi, plants inoculated with G. mosseae performed better than those inoculated with G. etunicatum in terms of plant growth and nutrient acquisition. These results showed that ameliorative soil water did not suppress arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal functions in improving growth and nutrient acquisition of desert ephemeral Plantago minuta.
|
|
Received: 17 July 2014
Published: 05 February 2015
|
| Fund: This work was funded by the Foundation for University Key Teacher by Henan Educational Committee (2013GGJS-070), the State Basic Research Program of China (2014CB954202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40971150) and the China Scholarship Council (201208410020). |
|
Corresponding Authors:
|
|
|
| Allen M F. 2011. Linking water and nutrients through the vadose zone: a fungal interface between the soil and plant systems. Journal of Arid Land, 3: 155–163.Apple M E. 2010. Aspects of mycorrhizae in desert plants. In: Ramawat K G. Desert Plants. Berlin: Springer, 121–134.Augé R M. 2004. Arbuscular mycorrhizae and soil/plant water relations. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 84: 373–381.Chen Z C, Shi Z Y, Tian C Y, et al. 2008. Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation on growth and nutrient uptake of two ephemeral plants. Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology, 32: 648–653. (in Chinese)Jayne B, Quigley M. 2014. Influence of arbuscular mycorrhiza on growth and reproductive response of plants under water deficit: a meta-analysis. Mycorrhiza, 24: 109–119.Ji F, Fan Z L, Zhao H G. 1995. Comparison of the physical–chemical characteristics of Aeolian soils in the Taklamakan desert and the Gurbantunggut desert. Arid Zone Research, 11: 21–25. (in Chinese)Kaschuk G, Kuyper T W, LeVelaar P A, et al. 2009. Are the rates of photosynthesis stimulated by the carbon sink strength of rhizobial and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses? Soil Biology & Bioche¬mistry, 41: 1233–1244.Khalvati M, Bartha B, Dupigny A, et al. 2010. Arbuscular mycorrhizal association is beneficial for growth and detoxification of xenobiotics of barley under drought stress. Journal of Soils Sediments, 10: 54–64.Kiers E T, Duhamel M, Beesetty Y, et al. 2011. Reciprocal rewards stabilize cooperation in the mycorrhizal symbiosis. Science, 333: 880–882.Kormanik P P, McGraw A C. 1982. Quantification of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae in plant roots. In: Schenk S C. Methods and Principles of Mycorrhisat Research. St Paul: American Phytopat¬holo¬gical Society, 37–45. Lambers H F, Chapin S, Pons T L. 2008. Plant Physiological Ecology. New York: Springer.Lan H Y, Zhang F C. 2008. Reviews on special mechanisms of adaptability of early-spring ephemeral plants to desert habitats in Xinjiang. Acta Botanica Boreali-Occidentalia Sinica, 28: 1478–1485. (in Chinese)Li X L, George E, Marschner H. 1991. Extension of the phosphorus depletion zone in VA-mycorrhizal white clover in a calcareous soil. Plant and Soil, 136: 41–48.Lu R K. 2000. The analytical methods for soil and agrochemistry. Beijing: China Agricultural Science and Technology Press. (in Chinese)Mao Z M, Zhang D M. 1994. The conspectus of ephemeral flora in northern Xinjiang. Arid Zone Reseach, 11: 1–26. (in Chinese)Qian Y B, Wu Z N, Yang Q, et al. 2007. Ground-surface conditions of sand-dust event occurrences in the southern Junggar Basin of Xinjiang, China. Journal of Arid Environments, 70: 49–62. Ramawat K G. 2010. Desert Plants: Biology and Biotechnology. New York: Springer.Ruiz-Lozano J M, Aroca R. 2010. Host response to osmotic stresses: stomatal behaviour and water use efficiency of arbuscular mycorrhizal plants. In: Koltai H, Kapulnik Y. Arbuscular Mycorrhizas: Physiology and Function. Berlin: Springer, 239–256 Shi Z Y, Feng G, Christie P, et al. 2006. Arbuscular mycorrhizal status of spring ephemerals in the desert ecosystem of Junggar Basin, China. Mycorrhiza, 16: 269–275.Shi Z Y, Zhang L Y, Li X L, et al. 2007. Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with desert ephemerals in plant communities of Junggar Basin, northwest China. Applied Soil Ecology, 35: 10–20.Shi Z Y, Liu D H, Wang F Y. 2013. Spatial variation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in two vegetation types in gurbantonggut desert. Contemporary Problems of Ecology, 6: 455–464.Smith S E, Read D J. 2008. Mycorrhizal Symbiosis. Boston: Boston Academic Press.Smith S E, Facelli E, Pope S, et al. 2010. Plant performance in stressful environments: interpreting new and established knowledge of the roles of arbuscular mycorrhizas. Plant and Soil, 326: 3–20.Sun Y, Li X L, Feng G. 2008. Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonization on ecological functional traits of ephemerals in Gurbantonggut desert. Symbiosis, 46: 121–127.Sun Y, Zhang T, Tian C Y, et al. 2009. Response of grass growth and productivity to enhanced water input in ephemeral desert grassland in Gurbantunggut desert. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 29: 1859–1868. (in Chinese)Treseder K K. 2013. The extent of mycorrhizal colonization of roots and its influence on plant growth and phosphorus content. Plant and Soil, 371: 1–13.van der Heijden M G A, Streitwolf-Engel R, Riedl R, et al. 2006. The mycorrhizal contribution to plant productivity, plant nutrition and soil structure in experimental grassland. New Phytologist, 172: 739–752.Wang X Q, Jiang J, Lei J Q, et al. 2003. The distribution of ephemeral vegetation on the longitudinal dune surface and its stabilization significance in the Gurbantunggut Desert. Acta Geographica Sinica, 58: 598–605. (in Chinese)Wang X Q, Jiang J, Lei J Q, et al. 2004. Relationship between spring ephemeral plants distribution and soil moisture on longitudinal dune surface in Gurbantunggut desert. Chinese Journal Applied Ecology, 15: 556–560. (in Chinese)Wang X Q, Zhang Y, Jiang J, et al. 2009. Effects of spring-summer grazing on longitudinal dune surface in southern Gurbantunggut Desert. Journal of Geographic Science, 19: 299–308.Yuan S F, Tang H P. 2010. Research advances in the eco-physiological characteristics of ephemerals adaptation to habitats. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 19: 240–247. (in Chinese)Zhang L, Chen C. 2002. On the general characteristics of plant diversity of Gurbantunggut sandy desert. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 22: 1923–1932. (in Chinese)Zhang T, Sun Y, Song Y C, et al. 2011. On-site growth response of a desert ephemeral plant, Plantago minuta, to indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a central Asia desert. Symbiosis, 55: 77–84.Zhang T, Sun Y, Shi Z Y, et al. 2012a. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can accelerate the restoration of degraded spring grassland in Central Asia. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 65: 426–432.Zhang T, Tian C Y, Sun Y, et al. 2012b. Dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with desert ephemeral plants in Gurbantunggut Desert. Journal of Arid Land, 4: 43–51. |
|
Viewed |
|
|
|
Full text
|
|
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
|
Cited |
|
|
|
|
| |
Shared |
|
|
|
|
| |
Discussed |
|
|
|
|
