Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on carbon assimilation and ecological stoichiometry of maize under combined abiotic stresses

作者：Qiong Ran, Songlin Zhang, Muhammad Arif, Xueting Yin, Shanshan Chen, Guangqian Ren · 发表于：Journal of Plant Ecology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1093/jpe/rtae010 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions、Plant Parasitism and Resistance、Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism

Abstract Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stresses like salinity and improve crop yield. However, their effects are variable, and the underlying cause of such variation remains largely unknown. This study aimed to assess how drought modified the effect of AMF on plant resistance to high calcium-saline stress. A pot experiment was performed to examine how AMF inoculation affects the growth, photosynthetic activity, nutrient uptake and carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometric ratio (C:N:P) of maize under high calcium stress and contrasting water conditions. The results showed that high calcium stress significantly reduced mycorrhizal colonization, biomass accumulation, C assimilation rate and C:N stoichiometric ratio in plant tissues. Besides, the adverse effects of calcium stress on photosynthesis were exacerbated under drought. AMF inoculation profoundly alleviated such reductions under drought and saline stress. However, it barely affected maize performance when subjected to calcium stress under well-watered conditions. Moreover, watering changed AMF impact on nutrient allocation in plant tissues. Under well-watered conditions, AMF stimulated P accumulation in roots and plant growth, but did not induce leaf P accumulation proportional to C and N, resulting in increased leaf C:P and N:P ratios under high calcium stress. In contrast, AMF decreased N content and the N:P ratio in leaves under drought. Overall, AMF inoculatio...