An arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus alters soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity in a soil texture specific way.

ABSTRACT: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) alter plant water relations and contribute to soil structure. Although soil hydraulic properties depend on soil structure and may limit plant water uptake, little is known about how AMF influence soil water retention (the relation between the soil water content and soil water potential) and hydraulic conductivity in different soils. Instead, these soil hydraulic properties often are considered to be independent of AMF presence in experiments. We asked if this assumption holds true for both sand and loam. We grew maize plants either inoculated with Rhizophagus irregularis or with autoclaved inoculum in pots filled with quartz sand or loam soil until extraradical spread of the fungus throughout the pots was achieved. Each pot contained a hyphal compartment

SUBMITTER: Pauwels R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10244285 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature