The Inhibitory Effect of Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue on White Clover Can Be Alleviated by Glomus mosseae Instead of Rhizobia

Abstract

In artificial ecosystems, mixed planting of gramineous and leguminous plants can have obvious advantages and is very common. Due to their improved growth performances and stress tolerance, endophyte-infected grasses are considered to be ideal plant species for grasslands. However, endophytic fungi can inhibit the growth of neighboring nonhost leguminous plants. In this study, we chose endophyte-infected and endophyte-free tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum Darbyshire ex. Schreb.) and clover (Trifolium repens) as the experimental materials to explore whether arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobium can alleviate the inhibitory effect of endophyte infection on clover. The results showed that endophytic fungi significantly reduced clover biomass. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation significantly increased the biomass of clover in both endophyte-infected tall fescue/clover and endophyte-free tall fescue/clover systems but the beneficial contribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was more obvious in the endophyte-infected tall fescue/clover system. Rhizobia inoculation could alleviate the detrimental effect of tall fescue on the growth of clover but did not alleviate the detrimental effect of endophyte infection on the growth of clover.

Clover Species Specific Influence on Microbial Abundance and Associated Enzyme Activities in Rhizosphere and Non-Rhizosphere Soils

“…For example, sweet clover contains coumarin [71] and aromatic phenolic compounds, which (when excreted by plant roots) may affect both N-fixers [72] and the other rhizobacteria. Some of these root microorganisms may counter-act as allelopathic elements [73,74] and chemically modulate final plant response to pH, osmotic potential, or complete soil microbial community [75,76].…”

Endophytic fungi facilitate the coexistence of host grasses and neighboring legumes by changing rhizobial abundance

“…Regarding the effect of endophyte infection on rhizobia in the host habitat, only the effect of cultivated grass, such as tall fescue and perennial ryegrass, on nodule number has been reported. In a mixed system of tall fescue with white clover and perennial ryegrass with white clover, endophyte infection significantly reduced the nodulation number of legume plants (García Parisi et al 2015;Liu et al 2021). In native grasslands, the diversity of both endophytes and rhizobia is higher than that of cultivated grassland.…”

“…Can endophyte infection further affect the growth of legumes by affecting nodule formation? Studies using E+ tall fescue in mixture with alfalfa, red clover (Staley and Belesky 2004) and white clover (Liu et al 2021) have found that endophyte infection reduces the number of legume root nodules as well as the growth of legume plants.…”

“…(Red clover) and Trifolium repens L. (White clover) when grown with endophyte-infected (E+) tall fescue (Liu et al 2021;Staley and Belesky 2004) and in white clover when grown with E+ perennial ryegrass (García Parisi et al 2015). Regarding the effects of endophyte infection on the growth of legume plants, negative effects have been reported in alfalfa, red clover, Lotus tenuis (L. tenuis) and white clover when grown with E+ tall fescue (Hoveland et al 1999;Liu et al 2021;Malinowski et al 1999;Petigrosso et al 2020), white clover when grown with E+ perennial ryegrass (Sutherland and Hogland 1989), and red clover, Lotus corniculatus L. (Bird's foot trefoil), Trifolium subterraneum L.…”

Effects of fertilization on the composition of bacterial populations in the rhizosphere soil of Legume-Gramineae mixtures in the Hexi Corridor region

“…Arti cial grasslands have been identi ed as a potent approach for boosting grass production and quality, emerging as a noteworthy source of high-quality forage grasses (Chen et al 2021). In comparison to monoculture grassland, mixed grassland planting offered the bene ts of high grass yield and superior quality (Liu et al 2021; Tahir et al 2022), while also enhancing soil quality, and fertility (Liu et al 2023; Coêlho et al 2019), and resource utilization e ciency (Liu et al 2022b). Furthermore, Li (Li et al 2009) stated that mixing leguminous and gramineous plants in intensive farming systems signi cantly reduced the inhibitory effects of nitrogen fertilization on nodulation and nitrogen xation.…”