Application of slow-release phosphorus fertilizers increases arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity in the roots of apple trees

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a key role in the functioning of agricultural ecosystems. Therefore, understanding how the application of fertilizers, a common management practice, affects AMF communities is of major importance. Here we aimed to: (i) experimentally test whether different amounts and forms of phosphorus (P) fertilizer affect AMF diversity and community composition associated with the roots of apple trees (Malus domestica); (ii) identify differences in tolerance to P fertilization between AMF taxa. We used 454-pyrosequencing of the small subunit rRNA gene amplicons to quantify AMF diversity and community composition in root samples obtained from a three year field experiment, with two inorganic, three slow-release P fertilization and one control treatment. The slow-release fertilizer treatments showed significantly higher AMF richness and differed in community composition compared to the inorganic fertilizer treatments. The distribution of AMF OTUs showed a significantly nested pattern. Additionally, AMF communities in the inorganic fertilizer treatments were a subset of the communities in the slow-release fertilizer treatments. We demonstrate that application of slow-release fertilizers promoted AMF diversity in the roots of cultivated apple trees in comparison to the other treatments. The application of inorganic fertilizers elevated levels of plant-available P in the soil and selected only a small subset of abundant AMF, resulting in a lower AMF diversity. This may result in AMF communities dominated by inferior AMF mutualists.