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U.S. Department of Energy
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Effects of VA mycorrhiza formation on plant nitrogen uptake and rhizosphere bacteria

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6204016
Mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal sorghum plants were grown in pots at three levels of fertilizer nitrogen ((NH/sub 4/)/sub 2/SO/sub 4/) which had been enriched with /sup 15/N. Root colonization by Glomus mosseae did not affect plant growth or total N uptake, but significant reductions in mycorrhizal plant /sup 15/N:/sup 14/N ratios and increased 'A' values were found. This suggested that mycorrhizal plants had access to an N source which was less available to nonmycorrhizal plants. In two additional experiments, mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal celery plants were grown in pots which allowed VAM fungal hyphae, but not roots, to have direct access to /sup 15/N-enriched organic or inorganic N sources. Root dry weight was significantly reduced in mycorrhizal plants. Mycorrhizal plants had significantly greater shoot and root /sup 15/N content than nonmycorrhizal plants. Number and length of VAM fungal hyphae crossing into the area of /sup 15/N placement were positively correlated with mycorrhizal plant /sup 15/N content in the inorganic-N but not organic-N treatment. In a fourth experiment, the effect of G. mosseae on the rhizosphere populations of five bacterial isolates associated with blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) was examined. No significant differences in bacterial populations were found in nonrhizosphere soil samples from pots of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants. One bacterial isolate was significantly increased in number, while a different isolate and total bacterial populations were significantly reduced by the presence of the mycorrhizal fungus. The results suggest that root colonization by VAM fungi can alter rhizosphere bacterial populations.
OSTI ID:
6204016
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English