Influence of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the response of potato to phosphorus deficiency

• Published in: Plant physiology (Bethesda) 1993, Vol.101 (1), p.147-160
• Main Authors: McArthur, D.A.J, Knowles, N.R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenosine triphosphatases; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; chemical constituents of plants; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungi; Glomus fasciculatum; growth; Infections; Nitrates; nutrient deficiencies; Nutrition; Parasitism and symbiosis; pathogenicity; phosphorus; plant anatomy; Plant growth; plant morphology; Plant physiology and development; Plant roots; Plant-Microbe Interactions; Plants; roots; Solanum tuberosum; stress response; Sugars; Symbiosis; Tubers; ultrastructure; vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae
• ISSN: 0032-0889; 1532-2548
• DOI: 10.1104/pp.101.1.147

Morphological and biochemical interactions between a vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungus (Glomus fasciculatum [Thaxt. sensu Gerdemann] Gerdemann and Trappe) and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants during the development of P deficiency were characterized. Nonmycorrhizal (NM) plants grown for 63 d with low abiotic P supply (0.5 mM) produced 34, 52, and 73% less root, shoot, and tuber dry matter, respectively, than plants grown with high P (2.5 mM). The total leaf area and the leaf area:plant dry weight ratio of low-P plants were substantially lower than those of high-P plants. Moreover, a lower shoot:root dry weight ratio and tuber:plant dry weight ratio in low-P plants than in high-P plants characterized a major effect of P deficiency stress on dry matter partitioning. In addition to a slower rate of growth, low-P plants accumulated nonreducing sugars and nitrate. Furthermore, root respiration and leaf nitrate reductase activity were lower in low-P plants than in high-P plants. Low abiotic P supply also induced physiological changes that contributed to the greater efficiency of P acquisition by low-P plants than by high-P plants. For example, allocation of dry matter and P to root growth was less restricted by P deficiency stress than to shoot and tuber growth. Also, the specific activities of root acid phosphatases and vanadate-sensitive microsomal ATPases were enhanced in P-deficient plants. The establishment of a VAM symbiosis by low-P plants was essential for efficient P acquisition, and a greater root infection level for P-stressed plants indicated increased compatibility to the VAM fungus. By 63 d after planting, low-P VAM plants had recovered 42% more of the available soil P than low-P NM plants. However, the VAM fungus only partially alleviated P deficiency stress and did not completely compensate for inadequate abiotic P supply. Although the specific activities of acid phosphatases and microsomal ATPases were only marginally influenced by VAM infection, VAM roots characteristically had a higher protein concentration and, consequently, enhanced microsomal ATPase and acid phosphatase activities on a fresh weight basis compared with NM roots. Morphological and ultrastructural details of VAM plants are discussed in relation to the influence of the VAM symbiosis on P nutrition of potato.