Open AccessDo arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi with contrasting life‐history strategies differ in their responses to repeated defoliation?
Author(s) -
IJdo Marleen,
Schtickzelle Nicolas,
Cranenbrouck Sylvie,
Declerck Stéphane
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2009.00829.x
Subject(s) - biology , strategist , medicago truncatula , glomeromycota , arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi , botany , spore , glomus , symbiosis , reproduction , mycorrhiza , ecology , horticulture , inoculation , bacteria , marketing , business , genetics
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi obligatorily depend on carbon (C) resources provided via the plant and therefore fluctuations in C availability may strongly and differently affect AM fungi with different life‐history strategies (LHS). In the present study, we examined the effect of repeated defoliation of in vitro grown barrel medic ( Medicago truncatula ) on the spore and auxiliary cell (AC) production dynamics of a presumed r‐strategist ( Glomus intraradices ) and a presumed K‐strategist ( Dentiscutata reticulata ). Glomus intraradices modulated the production of spores directly to C availability, showing direct investment in reproduction as expected for r‐strategists. In contrast, AC production of D. reticulata was not affected after a single defoliation and thus showed higher resistance to fluctuating C levels, as expected for K‐strategists. Our results demonstrate that plant defoliation affects the production of extraradical C storage structures of G. intraradices and D. reticulata differently. Our results contribute towards revealing differences in LHS among AM fungal species, a step further towards understanding their community dynamics in natural ecosystems and agroenvironments.