Nutrient Availability Does Not Affect Community Assembly in Root-Associated Fungi but Determines Fungal Effects on Plant Growth.

ABSTRACT: Nonmycorrhizal root-colonizing fungi are key determinants of plant growth, driving processes ranging from pathogenesis to stress alleviation. Evidence suggests that they might also facilitate host access to soil nutrients in a mycorrhiza-like manner, but the extent of their direct contribution to plant nutrition is unknown. To study how widespread such capacity is across root-colonizing fungi, we surveyed soils in nutrient-limiting habitats using plant baits to look for fungal community changes in response to nutrient conditions. We established a fungal culture collection and used Arabidopsis thaliana inoculation bioassays to assess the ability of fungi to facilitate host's growth in the presence of organic nutrients unavailable to plants. Plant baits captured a representation of fungal co

SUBMITTER: Macia-Vicente JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9239174 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature