Dataset Information

Plant Clonal Integration Mediates the Horizontal Redistribution of Soil Resources, Benefiting Neighboring Plants.

ABSTRACT: Resources such as water taken up by plants can be released into soils through hydraulic redistribution and can also be translocated by clonal integration within a plant clonal network. We hypothesized that the resources from one (donor) microsite could be translocated within a clonal network, released into different (recipient) microsites and subsequently used by neighbor plants in the recipient microsite. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two experiments in which connected and disconnected ramet pairs of Potentilla anserina were grown under both homogeneous and heterogeneous water regimes, with seedlings of Artemisia ordosica as neighbors. The isotopes [(15)N] and deuterium were used to trace the translocation of nitrogen and water, respectively, within the clonal network. The water and nitrogen taken up by P. anserina ramets in the donor microsite were translocated into the connected ramets in the recipient microsites. Most notably, portions of the translocated water and nitrogen were released into the recipient microsite and were used by the neighboring A. ordosica, which increased growth of the neighboring A. ordosica significantly. Therefore, our hypotheses were supported, and plant clonal integration mediated the horizontal hydraulic redistribution of resources, thus benefiting neighboring plants. Such a plant clonal integration-mediated resource redistribution in horizontal space may have substantial effects on the interspecific relations and composition of the community and consequently on ecosystem processes.

SUBMITTER: Ye XH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4742616 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Plant Clonal Integration Mediates the Horizontal Redistribution of Soil Resources, Benefiting Neighboring Plants.

Ye Xue-Hua XH Zhang Ya-Lin YL Liu Zhi-Lan ZL Gao Shu-Qin SQ Song Yao-Bin YB Liu Feng-Hong FH Dong Ming M

Frontiers in plant science 20160205

Resources such as water taken up by plants can be released into soils through hydraulic redistribution and can also be translocated by clonal integration within a plant clonal network. We hypothesized that the resources from one (donor) microsite could be translocated within a clonal network, released into different (recipient) microsites and subsequently used by neighbor plants in the recipient microsite. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two experiments in which connected and disconnected ...[more]

PMID: 26904051

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Project description:Common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) allow the transfer of nutrients between plants, influencing the growth of the neighboring plants and soil properties. Cleistogene squarrosa (C. squarrosa) is one of the most common grass species in the steppe ecosystem of Inner Mongolia, where nitrogen (N) is often a key limiting nutrient for plant growth, but little is known about whether CMNs exist between neighboring individuals of C. squarrosa or play any roles in the N acquisition of the C. squarrosa population. In this study, two C. squarrosa individuals, one as a donor plant and the other as a recipient plant, were planted in separate compartments in a partitioned root-box. Adjacent compartments were separated by 37 µm nylon mesh, in which mycorrhizal hyphae can go through but not roots. The donor plant was inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and their hyphae potentially passed through nylon mesh to colonize the roots of the recipient plant, resulting in the establishment of CMNs. The formation of CMNs was verified by microscopic examination and 15N tracer techniques. Moreover, different levels of N fertilization (N0 = 0, N1 = 7.06, N2 = 14.15, N3 = 21.19 mg/kg) were applied to evaluate the CMNs' functioning under different soil nutrient conditions. Our results showed that when C. squarrosa-C. squarrosa was the association, the extraradical mycelium transferred the 15N in the range of 45-55% at different N levels. Moreover, AM fungal colonization of the recipient plant by the extraradical hyphae from the donor plant significantly increased the plant biomass and the chlorophyll content in the recipient plant. The extraradical hyphae released the highest content of glomalin-related soil protein into the rhizosphere upon N2 treatment, and a significant positive correlation was found between hyphal length and glomalin-related soil proteins (GRSPs). GRSPs and soil organic carbon (SOC) were significantly correlated with mean weight diameter (MWD) and helped in the aggregation of soil particles, resulting in improved soil structure. In short, the formation of CMNs in this root-box experiment supposes the existence of CMNs in the typical steppe plants, and CMNs-mediated N transfer and root colonization increased the plant growth and soil properties of the recipient plant.

Project description:Symbiosis between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, involving great majority of extant plant species including most crops, is heavily implicated in plant mineral nutrition, abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, soil aggregate stabilization, as well as shaping soil microbiomes. The latter is particularly important for efficient recycling from soil to plants of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen (N) bound in organic forms. Chitin is one of the most widespread polysaccharides on Earth, and contains substantial amounts of N (>6% by weight). Chitin is present in insect exoskeletons and cell walls of many fungi, and can be degraded by many prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic microbes normally present in soil. However, the AM fungi seem not to have the ability to directly access N bound in chitin molecules, thus relying on microbes in their hyphosphere to gain access to this nutrient-rich resource in the process referred to as organic N mineralization. Here we show, using data from two pot experiments, both including root-free compartments amended with 15N-labeled chitin, that AM fungi can channel substantial proportions (more than 20%) of N supplied as chitin into their plants hosts within as short as 5 weeks. Further, we show that overall N losses (leaching and/or volatilization), sometimes exceeding 50% of the N supplied to the soil as chitin within several weeks, were significantly lower in mycorrhizal as compared to non-mycorrhizal pots. Surprisingly, the rate of chitin mineralization and its N utilization by the AM fungi was at least as fast as that of green manure (clover biomass), based on direct 15N labeling and tracing. This efficient N recycling from soil to plant, observed in mycorrhizal pots, was not strongly affected by the composition of AM fungal communities or environmental context (glasshouse or outdoors, additional mineral N supply to the plants or not). These results indicate that AM fungi in general can be regarded as a critical and robust soil resource with respect to complex soil processes such as organic N mineralization and recycling. More specific research is warranted into the exact molecular mechanisms and microbial players behind the observed patterns.

Dataset Information

Plant Clonal Integration Mediates the Horizontal Redistribution of Soil Resources, Benefiting Neighboring Plants.

Publications

Plant Clonal Integration Mediates the Horizontal Redistribution of Soil Resources, Benefiting Neighboring Plants.

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