Soil Microbial Diversity Affects the Plant-Root Colonization by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Terrestrial plants establish symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to exchange water and nutrients. However, the extent to which soil biodiversity influences such association remains still unclear. Here, we manipulated the soil microbial diversity using a dilution-to-extinction approach in a controlled pot microcosm system and quantified the root length colonization of maize plants by the AMFRhizophagus clarus. The experiment was performed by manipulating the soil microbiome within a native and foreign soil having distinct physicochemical properties. Overall, our data revealed significant positive correlations between the soil microbial diversity and AMF colonization. Most importantly, this finding opposes the diversity-invasibility hypothesis and highlights for a potential overall helper effect of the soil biodiversity on plant-AMF symbiosis.

Automated summary

The study revealed a significant positive correlation between soil microbial diversity and the symbiosis between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). This finding contradicts the diversity-invasibility hypothesis and highlights the potential overall helper effect of soil biodiversity on plant-AMF symbiosis.