arbuscular mycorrhizas reduce nitrogen loss via leaching通过浸出丛枝菌根减少氮损失.pdfVIP

Arbuscular Mycorrhizas Reduce Nitrogen Loss via Leaching 1 2,3 Hamid R. Asghari , Timothy R. Cavagnaro * 1 Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran, 2 School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, 3 Australian Centre for Biodiversity, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia Abstract The capacity of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal root systems to reduce nitrate (NO32) and ammonium (NH4+) loss from soils via leaching was investigated in a microcosm-based study. A mycorrhiza defective tomato mutant and its mycorrhizal wildtype progenitor were used in this experiment in order to avoid the indirect effects of establishing non-mycorrhizal control treatments on soil nitrogen cycling and the wider soil biota. Mycorrhizal root systems dramatically reduced nitrate loss (almost 40 times less) via leaching, compared to their non-mycorrhizal counterparts, following a pulse application of ammonium nitrate to experimental microcosms. The capacity of AM to reduce nutrient loss via leaching has received relatively little attention, but as demonstrated here, can be significant. Taken together, these data highlight the need to consider the potential benefits of AM beyond improvements in plant nutrition alone. Citation: Asghari HR, Cavagnaro TR (2012) Arbuscular Mycorrhizas Reduce Nitrogen Loss via Leaching. PLoS ONE 7(1): e29825. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029825 Editor: Mari Moora, University of Tartu, Estonia Received August 30, 2011; Accepted December 5, 2011; Published January 10, 2012 Copyright: 2012 Asghari, Cavagnaro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, pr