Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany.
Glob Chang Biol. 2024 Jul;30(7):e17438. doi: 10.1111/gcb.17438.
Plants and their symbionts, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, are increasingly subjected to various environmental stressors due to climate change, including drought. As a response to drought, plants generally allocate more biomass to roots over shoots, thereby facilitating water uptake. However, whether this biomass allocation shift is modulated by AM fungi remains unknown. Based on 5691 paired observations from 154 plant species, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate how AM fungi modulate the responses of plant growth and biomass allocation (e.g., root-to-shoot ratio, R/S) to drought. We found that AM fungi attenuate the negative impact of drought on plant growth, including biomass production, photosynthetic performance and resource (e.g. nutrient and water) uptake. Accordingly, drought significantly increased R/S in non-inoculated plants, but not in plants symbiotic with established AM fungal symbioses. These results suggest that AM fungi promote plant growth and stabilize their R/S through facilitating nutrient and water uptake in plants under drought. Our findings highlight the crucial role of AM fungi in enhancing plant resilience to drought by optimizing resource allocation. This knowledge opens avenues for sustainable agricultural practices that leverage symbiotic relationships for climate adaptation.
由于气候变化，包括干旱在内的各种环境胁迫因素，植物及其共生体（如丛枝菌根真菌）正日益受到影响。作为对干旱的响应，植物通常会将更多的生物量分配给根系而不是地上部分，从而促进水分吸收。然而，丛枝菌根真菌是否会调节这种生物量分配的转变尚不清楚。基于来自 154 种植物的 5691 对成对观测数据，我们进行了荟萃分析，以评估丛枝菌根真菌如何调节植物生长和生物量分配（例如，根冠比）对干旱的响应。我们发现，丛枝菌根真菌减轻了干旱对植物生长的负面影响，包括生物量的产生、光合作用性能和资源（如养分和水分）的吸收。因此，干旱显著增加了未接种植物的根冠比，但在与已建立的丛枝菌根真菌共生体共生的植物中则没有增加。这些结果表明，丛枝菌根真菌通过促进植物在干旱条件下吸收养分和水分，促进植物生长并稳定其根冠比。我们的研究结果强调了丛枝菌根真菌在通过优化资源分配来增强植物对干旱的适应能力方面的关键作用。这些知识为利用共生关系适应气候变化的可持续农业实践开辟了途径。
