Summary
This experimental study demonstrates that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity enhances the fairness of resource exchange in plant-fungal mutualisms. By presenting plants with two AMF species differing in cooperativeness, researchers found that plants preferentially rewarded more cooperative partners with greater carbon allocation whilst extracting more phosphorus from less cooperative fungi when alternatives existed. The findings suggest that partner choice and competition among fungal partners is an evolutionary mechanism maintaining both the persistence and diversity of the ancient plant-AMF symbiosis.
UK applicability
Whilst the findings are laboratory-based rather than field-validated, they have theoretical relevance to UK agriculture and horticulture, where managing soil microbial diversity to enhance nutrient acquisition efficiency could reduce phosphorus fertiliser inputs. Further research would be needed to establish whether these partner-choice mechanisms operate effectively in complex UK field soils with multiple resident AMF communities.
Key measures
³³P uptake from individual AMF partners; ¹⁴C allocation to individual AMF partners; carbon cost per unit phosphorus transferred
Outcomes reported
The study measured phosphorus (³³P) and carbon (¹⁴C) allocation between plants and two arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species that differed in cooperativeness, using a split-root experimental system. Plants received more phosphorus from less cooperative fungi when an alternative fungal partner was available, resulting in reduced carbon cost per unit of phosphorus from the less cooperative partner.
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