Abstract
Plant-fungi interactions have been identified as fundamental drivers of the plant host performance, particularly in cold environments where organic matter degradation rates are slow, precisely for the capacity of the fungal symbiont to enhance the availability of labile nitrogen (N) in the plant rhizosphere. Nevertheless, these positive effects appear to be modulated by the composition and amount of the N pool in the soil, being greater when plant hosts are growing where N is scarce as is the case of Antarctic soils. Nevertheless, in some coastal areas of this continent, seabirds and marine mammal colonies exert, through their accumulated feces and urine a strong influence on the edaphic N content surrounding their aggregation points. To evaluate if the fungal symbionts (root endophytes), associated to the only two Antarctic vascular plants Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica, act as N-uptake enhancers, even in such N-rich conditions as those found around animal influence, we assessed, under controlled conditions, the process of N mineralization in soil by the accumulation of NH4+ in the rizhosphere and the biomass accumulation of plants with (E+) and without (E−) fungal symbionts. Complementarily, taking advantage of the isotopic N-fractionation that root-fungal symbionts exert on organic N molecules during its acquisition process, we also determined if endophytes actively participate in the Antarctic plants N-uptake, when inorganic N is not a limiting factor, by estimating the δ15N isotopic signatures in leaves. Overall, symbiotic interaction increased the availability of NH4+ in the rhizosphere of both species. As expected, the enhanced availability of inorganic N resulted in a higher final biomass in E + compared with E− plants of both species. In addition, we found that the positive role of fungal symbionts was also actively linked to the process of N-uptake in both species, evidenced by the contrasting δ15N signatures present in E+ (−0.4 to −2.3‰) relative to E− plants (2.7–3.1‰). In conclusion, despite being grown under rich N soils, the two Antarctic vascular plants showed that the presence of root-fungal endophytes, furthermore enhanced the availability of inorganic N sources in the rhizosphere, has a positive impact in their biomass, remarking the active participation of these endophytes in the N-uptake process for plants inhabiting the Antarctic continent.
Highlights
In cold environments as polar and alpine regions the edaphic nitrogen is mainly available as organic compound, imposing metabolic restrictions to the biological mineralization of nitrogen (Shaver and Chapin, 1980; Pietr et al, 1983; Atkin, 1996)
By the end of the N-mineralization experiment (60 days), the percentage of infested roots in C. quitensis inoculated with P. chrysogenum reached 88.5 ± 1.6% and was 91.2 ± 0.9% in D. antarctica plants inoculated with P. brevicompactum
Relative to the temporal dynamic of the available NH4+ in the substrate of the experimental plants, General Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) models revealed for C. quitensis and D. antarctica a significant increase in time among the rhizospheric soil of both E− and E + plants (Supplementary Table 1)
Summary
In cold environments as polar and alpine regions the edaphic nitrogen is mainly available as organic compound, imposing metabolic restrictions to the biological mineralization of nitrogen (Shaver and Chapin, 1980; Pietr et al, 1983; Atkin, 1996). The microbiome associated with the Antarctic vascular flora is dominated by the ascomycetous fungi known as dark septate endophytes or DSE (Upson et al, 2009b; Newsham, 2011; Ruotsalainen, 2018) These symbiotic fungi, usually found in the roots, can enhance plant nutrient acquisition, N and P (Newsham, 2011; Hill et al, 2019). The shift from organic to inorganic N as nutrient source seems to alter the effect of some root DSE in their host plants, either positively or negatively This is similar to what has been found for the plantmycorrhizae interaction of the Arctic tundra in which the role of mycorrhizae on the net plant N-uptake decrease if inorganic N become more available (Hobbie et al, 2000; Johnson et al, 2010). The positive role of DSE root-symbionts on their host plants’ performance is still not conclusive and appears to be highly dependent on the environmental conditions (Newsham, 2011; Acuña-Rodríguez et al, 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
