Interactions of arbuscular mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi improve seedling survival and growth in post-mining waste.
The impact of fungal endophytes and the modulating role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the vitality of Verbascum lychnitis, grown in the laboratory in a substratum from a post-mining waste dump was investigated. We report that inoculation with a single endophyte negatively affected the survival rate and biomass production of most of the plant-endophyte consortia examined. The introduction of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi into this setup (dual inoculation) had a beneficial effect on both biomass yield and survivability. V. lychnitis co-inoculated with AMF and Cochliobolus sativus, Diaporthe sp., and Phoma exigua var. exigua yielded the highest biomass, exceeding the growth rate of both non-inoculated and AMF plants. AMF significantly improved the photosynthesis rates of the plant-endophyte consortia, which were negatively affected by inoculation with single endophytes. The abundance of PsbC, a photosystem II core protein previously shown to be upregulated in plants colonized by Epichloe typhina, exhibited a significant increase when the negative effect of the fungal endophyte was attenuated by AMF.
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387, Kraków, Poland.
Katarzyna
K
Wężowicz
Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7A, 30-387, Kraków, Poland. piotr.rozpadek@uj.edu.pl.
Piotr
P
Rozpądek
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387, Kraków, Poland.
Katarzyna
K
Turnau
D018533:Biomass; D060026:Endophytes / Q000502:physiology*; D008906:Mining; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000502:physiology*; D036226:Seedlings / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000382:microbiology; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants
D012989:Soil Pollutants
AMF; Fungal endophytes; Photosynthesis efficiency; Toxic metals; Verbascum lychnitis