Benefits of symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi to plant water relations depend on plant genotype in pinyon pine

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 14424
• Main Authors: Sevanto, Sanna, Gehring, Catherine A., Ryan, Max G., Patterson, Adair, Losko, Adrian S., Vogel, Sven C., Carter, Kelsey R., Dickman, L. Turin, Espy, Michelle A., Kuske, Cheryl R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02-09-2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/326; 631/449; 704/158; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biological Science; Biomass; Carbon; Climate change; Climate change mitigation; Desiccation; Drought; Drought resistance; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Ectomycorrhizas; Electromagnetic fields; Environmental impact; Flow velocity; Fungi; Genotype & phenotype; Genotypes; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydraulics; Laboratories; Leaves; Microbiology; Microorganisms; multidisciplinary; Pinus edulis; Plant growth; Plant sciences; Productivity; Rhizosphere; Rhizosphere microorganisms; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Stomata; Symbionts; Water relations; Water shortages; Water uptake
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41191-5

Rhizosphere microbes, such as root-associated fungi, can improve plant access to soil resources, affecting plant health, productivity, and stress tolerance. While mycorrhizal associations are ubiquitous, plant–microbe interactions can be species specific. Here we show that the specificity of the effects of microbial symbionts on plant function can go beyond species level: colonization of roots by ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) of the genus
Geopora
has opposite effects on water uptake, and stomatal control of desiccation in drought tolerant and intolerant genotypes of pinyon pine (
Pinus edulis
Engelm.). These results demonstrate, for the first time, that microorganisms can have significant and opposite effects on important plant functional traits like stomatal control of desiccation that are associated with differential mortality and growth in nature. They also highlight that appropriate pairing of plant genotypes and microbial associates will be important for mitigating climate change impacts on vegetation.