1. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil and roots respond differently to phosphorus inputs in an intensively managed calcareous agricultural soil.
- Author
-
Liu W, Zhang Y, Jiang S, Deng Y, Christie P, Murray PJ, Li X, and Zhang J
- Subjects
- Agriculture methods, Fungi, Metagenomics, Mycorrhizae growth & development, Mycorrhizae isolation & purification, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Biodiversity, Fertilizers, Mycorrhizae classification, Phosphorus, Plant Roots microbiology, Soil Microbiology, Zea mays microbiology
- Abstract
Understanding the diversity and community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is important for potentially optimizing their role in mining phosphorus (P) in agricultural ecosystems. Here, we conduct a comprehensive study to investigate the vertical distribution of AMF in a calcareous field and their temporal structure in maize-roots with fertilizer P application over a three-year period. The results showed that soil available-P response to P fertilization but maize yields did not. Phosphorus fertilization had no-significant effect on richness of AMF except at greater soil-depths. High P-supply reduced root colonization while optimum-P tended to increase colonization and fungal richness on all sampling occasions. Crop phenology might override P-supply in determining the community composition of active root inhabiting fungi. Significant differences in the community structure of soil AMF were observed between the controls and P treatments in surface soil and the community shift was attributable mainly to available-P, N/P and pH. Vertical distribution was related mainly to soil electrical conductivity and Na content. Our results indicate that the structure of AMF community assemblages is correlated with P fertilization, soil depth and crop phenology. Importantly, phosphorus management must be integrated with other agricultural-practices to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production in salinized soils.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF