Maize varieties can strengthen positive plant-soil feedback through beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal mutualists

• Published in: Mycorrhiza Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 251 - 261
• Main Authors: Wang, Xin-Xin, Hoffland, Ellis, Mommer, Liesje, Feng, Gu, Kuyper, Thomas W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; AMF species; Arbuscular mycorrhizas; biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Claroideoglomus etunicatum; Colonization; Conditioning; Corn; Ecology; edaphic factors; Environmental impact; Feedback; Flowers & plants; Forestry; Fungi; Gigaspora margarita; Glomus mosseae; hybrids; hyphae; landraces; Life Sciences; Maize varieties; Microbiology; mutualism; mycorrhizal fungi; Original Article; Phosphorus; Plant Sciences; Plant species; Plant-soil feedback; soil; Soil conditioning; Soil conditions; Soil environment; soil sterilization; Soil strength; soil-plant interactions; Soils; Species; vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae; Plant-soil feedback; Maize varieties; AMF species; Soil conditioning
• DOI: 10.1007/s00572-019-00885-3
• ISSN: 0940-6360; 1432-1890

Plant-soil feedback (PSF) describes the process whereby plant species modify the soil environment, which subsequently impacts the growth of the same or another plant species. Our aim was to explore PSF by two maize varieties (a landrace and a hybrid variety) and three arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species ( Funneliformis mosseae , Claroideoglomus etunicatum , Gigaspora margarita , and the mixture). We carried out a pot experiment with a conditioning and a feedback phase to determine PSF with different species of AMF and with a non-mycorrhizal control. Sterilized soil was conditioned separately by each variety, with or without AMF; in the feedback phase, each soil community was used to grow each in its “home” soil and in the “away” soil. Plant performance was assessed as shoot biomass, phosphorus (P) concentration and P content, and fungal performance was assessed as mycorrhizal colonization and hyphal length density. Both maize varieties were differentially influenced by AMF in the conditioning phase. In the feedback phase, PSF was generally negative for non-mycorrhizal plants or when plants were colonized by G. margarita , whereas PSF was positive in the other three AMF treatments. When plants were grown on home soil, hyphal length density was larger than on away soil. We conclude that different maize varieties can strengthen positive plant-soil feedback for themselves through beneficial mutualists for themselves, but not across the maize varieties.