Cooperation between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting bacteria and their effects on plant growth and soil quality

Lu Yu; Hui Zhang; Wantong Zhang; Kesi Liu; Miao Liu; Xinqing Shao

doi:10.7717/peerj.13080

Cooperation between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting bacteria and their effects on plant growth and soil quality

PeerJ. 2022 Mar 21:10:e13080. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13080. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Lu Yu¹, Hui Zhang¹, Wantong Zhang¹, Kesi Liu¹, Miao Liu¹, Xinqing Shao^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
² Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Adaptive Management on Alpine Grassland, Qinghai, China.

Abstract

The roles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in improving nutrition uptake and soil quality have been well documented. However, few studies have explored their effects on root morphology and soil properties. In this study, we inoculated Elymus nutans Griseb with AMF and/or PGPR in order to explore their effects on plant growth, soil physicochemical properties, and soil enzyme activities. The results showed that AMF and/or PGPR inoculation significantly enhanced aboveground and belowground vegetation biomass. Both single and dual inoculations were beneficial for plant root length, surface area, root branches, stem diameter, height, and the ratio of shoot to root, but decreased root volume and root average diameter. Soil total nitrogen, alkaline phosphatase, and urease activities showed significant growth, and soil electrical conductivity and pH significantly declined under the inoculation treatments. Specific root length showed a negative correlation with belowground biomass, but a positive correlation with root length and root branches. These results indicated that AMF and PGPR had synergetic effects on root morphology, soil nutrient availability, and plant growth.

Keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF); Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR); Plant-microbe interaction; Root morphology; Soil physicochemical properties.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Elymus*
Mycorrhizae*
Plants
Soil / chemistry

Substances

Soil

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number 31971746), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0501902), the Major science and technology projects in Qinghai Province (2018-NK-A2) and the Platform of Adaptive Management on Alpine Grassland-livestock System (2020-ZJ-T07). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.