Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in saline soils: vertical distribution at different soil depth

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonize land plants in every ecosystem, even extreme conditions such as saline soils. In the present work we report for the first time the mycorrhizal status and the vertical fungal distribution of AMF spores present in the rhizospheric soil samples of four species of Chenopodiaceae (Allenrolfea patagonica, Atriplex argentina, Heterostachys ritteriana and Suaeda divaricata) at five different depths in two saline of central Argentina. Roots showed medium, low or no colonization (0–50%). Nineteen morphologically distinctive AMF species were recovered. The number of AMF spores ranged between 3 and 1162 per 100 g dry soil, and AMF spore number decreased as depth increased at both sites. The highest spore number was recorded in the upper soil depth (0–10 cm) and in S. divaricata. Depending of the host plant, some AMF species sporulated mainly in the deep soil layers (Glomus magnicaule in Allenrolfea patagonica, Septoglomus aff. constrictum in Atriplex argentina), others mainly in the top layers (G. brohultti in Atriplex argentina and Septoglomus aff. constrictum in Allenrolfea patagonica). Although the low percentages of colonization or lack of it, our results show a moderate diversity of AMF associated to the species of Chenopodiaceae investigated in this study. The taxonomical diversity reveals that AMF are adapted to extreme environmental conditions from saline soils of central Argentina.

Tripartite Relationships in Legume Crops Are Plant-Microorganism-Specific and Strongly Influenced by Salinity

“…As a matter of fact, differences between them were larger under saline conditions, thus indicating higher salt sensitivity for Claroideoglomus claroideum. This fits well with previous studies [38] which reported no presence of spores from Claroideoglomus claroideum in different sites of saline soils in Argentina. In addition, Claroideoglomus claroideum was reported as very sensitive to high concentrations of soil HMM (heavy metals and metalloids) [39].…”

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community composition affected by original elevation rather than translocation along an altitudinal gradient on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

“…Similarly, some previous studies reported that some AM fungi ( e.g. Acaulospora alpina and Gigaspora gigantea ) are known to be active under cooler but dormant during warmer conditions4142, or some AM fungi are sensitive to temperature decline and thereby they would have to produce more spores for proliferation and survival in extreme conditions4344. By contrast, AM fungal spore density was not significantly affected by translocation from low original sites (3,200 m, 3,400 m and 3,600 m) to high site (3,800 m) in this study.…”

Soil and seasons affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with Tamarix rhizosphere in arid and semi-arid steppes

“…The high diversity of Funneliformis genus beneath T. articulata and T. gallica under several arid and semi-arid steppes confirmed its general distribution and strong adaptation to a wide range of agro-pedological and environmental soil conditions (Chaudhry et al, 2013) such as elevated temperature (Gavitto and Azcon-Aguillar, 2012) and salinity level (Bacerra et al, 2014). Furthermore, this genus is able to initiate a colonization process from spores, root vesicles and hyphae propagules, in contrary to Gigaspora species, able to initiate new root infection only from germinated spores (Bouazza-Marouf et al, 2015).…”