Wheat Shoot Al, Fe, Mn and Zn Levels Are Influenced by Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Extraradical Mycelium Associated to Ornithopus compressus in Acidic Soils

Abstract

In the present study, the levels of Al, Fe, Mn and Zn in wheat shoots were quantified, by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Wheat was grown in an acidic soil with toxic levels of Mn and with intact or disrupted extraradical mycelium (ERM) as the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculum source, resulting from the previous growth of O. compressus. In the presence of an intact ERM, toxic Mn levels were reduced, and the concentrations of Al, Fe and Zn decreased 2.3, 1.5 and 2.3-fold, respectively. Disruption of ERM, that leads to a later and slower AM colonization, induced higher wheat shoot Mn and Zn levels (55% and 28%, respectively), but not Al and Fe. Under Mn toxicity, the colonization of wheat by intact ERM of AMF associated to O. compressus, in an acidic soil, appears to influence the uptake of Al, Fe and Zn, and positively influence plant growth.