The negative mycorrhizal growth response of host plants to Acaulospora cf. morrowiae irrespective of soil P availability

Abstract

Acaulospora is one of the dominant genera of AMF associated with waterlogged vegetation, and its dominance was also revealed in the roots of a lowland rice variety indigenous to Southern Thailand. In a preliminary finding, the isolated Acaulospora showed growth suppression of lowland japonica Nipponbare rice, even in high phosphorus (P) soil. The isolated Acaulospora was identified to species level and assigned as Acaulospora cf. morrowiae Phattalung 1. The mycorrhizal growth response (MGR) of an upland indica rice and maize to A. cf. morrowiae was further tested under low and high P conditions. AMF colonization rates were high, over 70%, in both cases, with perfect arbuscule and vesicle formation; however, growth depression of the host plants was markedly observed. Reduced nutrient accumulation in both shoots and roots of host plants was noted, as depicted by nutrient profiling. To further substantiate the negative MGR to inoculation of A. cf. morrowiae, a standardized in vivo bioassay was performed using maize seedlings in a sand and perlite mixture, ensuring low P with 20 mg kg⁻¹ P in the form of insoluble CaH₂PO₄. Shoot and root growth of maize seedlings were reduced at 23.7 and 36.1%, respectively, by the inoculation of AMF. The nutrient-parasitic nature of this AMF results from unproportioned drainage of photosynthates, indicating an unbalanced primary/nutrient trade-off system between symbionts. The overall associative merits or demerits of A. cf. morrowiae cannot be ruled out without thorough investigations considering several ecological perspectives and its fitter survival and dominance in waterlogged soils.