Open Access

ARTICLE

Interaction of Acaena elongata L. with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi under Phosphorus Limitation Conditions in a Temperate Forest

Yasmin Vázquez-Santos¹, Yuriana Martínez-Orea¹, Javier Álvarez-Sánchez¹, Noé Manuel Montaño², Sara Lucía Camargo-Ricalde², Silvia Castillo-Argüero^1,*

1 Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Facultad de Ciencias, Ciudad de México, 04510, México
2 Departamento de Biología, División de Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México, 09340, México

* Corresponding Author: Silvia Castillo-Argüero. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Mycorrhizal Fungi and Sustainable Development of Agriculture)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2021, 90(2), 605-619. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2021.014208

Received 10 October 2020; Accepted 17 December 2020; Issue published 07 February 2021

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the performance of Acaena elongata colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to different phosphorus (P) concentrations, as a measure of AMF dependency. A. elongata, is a species from soils where P availability is limited, such as temperate forests. Our research questions were: 1) How do different P concentrations affect the AMF association in Acaena elongata, and 2) How does the AMF association influence A. elongata’s growth under different P concentrations? A. elongata’s growth, P content in plant tissue, AMF colonization and dependency were measured under four P concentrations: control (0 g P kg⁻¹ ), low (0.05 g P kg⁻¹ ), intermediate (0.2 g P kg⁻¹ ) and high (2 g P kg⁻¹ ) in different harvests. A complete randomized block design was applied. A. elongata’s growth was higher under -AMF in intermediate and high P concentrations, and the lowest growth corresponded to +AMF in the low and intermediate P concentration. We observed a negative effect on the root biomass under +AMF in intermediate P concentration, while the P concentration had a positive effect on the leaf area ratio. The AMF colonization in A. elongata decreased in the highest P concentration and it was favored under intermediate P concentration; while the low and the high concentrations generated a cost-benefit imbalance. Our results suggest that the performance of some plant species in soils with low P availability may not be favored by their association with AMF, but a synergy between AMF and intermediate P concentrations might drive A. elongata’s growth.

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