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Different levels of hyphal self-incompatibility modulate interconnectedness of mycorrhizal networks in three arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi within the Glomeraceae

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Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) live in symbiosis with most plant species and produce underground extraradical hyphal networks functional in the uptake and translocation of mineral nutrients from the soil to host plants. This work investigated whether fungal genotype can affect patterns of interconnections and structural traits of extraradical mycelium (ERM), by comparing three Glomeraceae species growing in symbiosis with five plant hosts. An isolate of Funneliformis coronatus consistently showed low ability to form interconnected ERM and self-incompatibility that represented up to 21 % of hyphal contacts. The frequency of post-fusion self-incompatible interactions, never detected before in AMF extraradical networks, was 8.9 %. In F. coronatus ERM, the percentage of hyphal contacts leading to perfect hyphal fusions was 1.2–7.7, while it ranged from 25.8–48 to 35.6–53.6 in Rhizophagus intraradices and Funneliformis mosseae, respectively. Low interconnectedness of F. coronatus ERM resulted also from a very high number of non-interacting contacts (83.2 %). Such findings show that AMF genotypes in Glomeraceae can differ significantly in anastomosis behaviour and that ERM interconnectedness is modulated by the fungal symbiont, as F. coronatus consistently formed poorly interconnected networks when growing in symbiosis with five different host plants and in the asymbiotic stage. Structural traits, such as extent, density and hyphal self-compatibility/incompatibility, may represent key factors for the differential performance of AMF, by affecting fungal absorbing surface and foraging ability and thus nutrient flow from soil to host roots.

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Acknowledgments

This work represents part of A.P.’s PhD thesis project, which was funded by the University of Pisa. The financial support of the University of Pisa (Fondi di Ateneo) and of CNR is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Alessandra Pepe & Manuela Giovannetti

  2. CNR, Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology UOS Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Cristiana Sbrana

Authors
  1. Alessandra Pepe
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  2. Manuela Giovannetti
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  3. Cristiana Sbrana
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Correspondence to Cristiana Sbrana.

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Pepe, A., Giovannetti, M. & Sbrana, C. Different levels of hyphal self-incompatibility modulate interconnectedness of mycorrhizal networks in three arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi within the Glomeraceae. Mycorrhiza 26, 325–332 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-015-0671-2

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