Abstract
We investigated whether the performance of cork oak under drought could be improved by colonization with the ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus tinctorius. Results show that inoculation alone had a positive effect on plant height, shoot biomass, shoot basal diameter, and root growth. Under drought, root growth of mycorrhizal plants was significantly increased showing that inoculation was effective in increasing tolerance to drought. In accordance, mycorrhizal plants subjected to drought showed less symptoms of stress when compared to non-mycorrhizal plants, such as lower concentration of soluble sugars and starch, increased ability to maintain fatty acid content and composition, and increased unsaturation level of membrane lipids. After testing some of the mechanisms suggested to contribute to the enhanced tolerance of mycorrhizal plants to drought, we could not find any by which Pisolithus tinctorius could benefit cork oak, at least under the drought conditions imposed in our experiment. Inoculation did not increase photosynthesis under drought, suggesting no effect in sustaining stomatal opening at low soil water content. Similarly, plant water status was not affected by inoculation suggesting that P. tinctorius does not contribute to an increased plant water uptake during drought. Inoculation did increase nitrogen concentration in plants but it was independent of the water status. Furthermore, no significant mycorrhizal effect on drought-induced ROS production or osmotic adjustment was detected, suggesting that these factors are not important for the improved drought tolerance triggered by P. tinctorius.
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Acknowledgments
We are thankful to Dr. Lisete Sousa for the assistance with the statistical analysis and to the anonymous reviewers whose comments significantly improved this manuscript.
Funding
This study was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) with post-doc fellowship to MS (SFRH/BPD/104660/2014) and to BioISI (PEst-OE/BIA/UI4046/2014).
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Online Resource 1
Cork oak plants mycorrhized with P. tinctorius. (A) Macroscopic image showing a yellow mycorrizal root, typical of symbiosis with P. tinctorius; it is possible to see extraradical mycelium spreading into the soil. (B) Macroscopic image of a cork oak plant showing numerous P. tinctorius mycorrhizal roots. (GIF 100 kb)
Online Resource 2
Effect of ECM inoculation (M) and water regime (W) on plant water status parameters of cork oak seedlings (DOCX 13 kb)
Online Resource 3
Effect of ECM inoculation (M) and water regime (W) on lipid peroxidation (MDA), protein carbonylation and electrolyte leakage of cork oak seedlings (DOCX 13 kb)
Online Resource 4
Effect of ECM inoculation (M) and water regime (W) on root glucose concentration, root and leaf fatty acid composition and root double bond index (DBI) of cork oak seedlings (DOCX 14 kb)
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Sebastiana, M., da Silva, A.B., Matos, A.R. et al. Ectomycorrhizal inoculation with Pisolithus tinctorius reduces stress induced by drought in cork oak. Mycorrhiza 28, 247–258 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-018-0823-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-018-0823-2