Search for: All records

ABSTRACT Most of Earth’s trees rely on critical soil nutrients that ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF) liberate and provide, and all of Earth’s land plants associate with bacteria that help them survive in nature. Yet, our understanding of how the presence of EcMF modifies soil bacterial communities, soil food webs, and root chemistry requires direct experimental evidence to comprehend the effects that EcMF may generate in the belowground plant microbiome. To this end, we grewPinus muricataplants in soils that were either inoculated with EcMF and native forest bacterial communities or only native bacterial communities. We then profiled the soil bacterial communities, applied metabolomics and lipidomics, and linked omics data sets to understand how the presence of EcMF modifies belowground biogeochemistry, bacterial community structure, and their functional potential. We found that the presence of EcMF (i) enriches soil bacteria linked to enhanced plant growth in nature, (ii) alters the quantity and composition of lipid and non-lipid soil metabolites, and (iii) modifies plant root chemistry toward pathogen suppression, enzymatic conservation, and reactive oxygen species scavenging. Using this multi-omic approach, we therefore show that this widespread fungal symbiosis may be a common factor for structuring soil food webs.IMPORTANCEUnderstanding how soil microbes interact with one another and their host plant will help us combat the negative effects that climate change has on terrestrial ecosystems. Unfortunately, we lack a clear understanding of how the presence of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF)—one of the most dominant soil microbial groups on Earth—shapes belowground organic resources and the composition of bacterial communities. To address this knowledge gap, we profiled lipid and non-lipid metabolites in soils and plant roots, characterized soil bacterial communities, and compared soils amended either with or without EcMF. Our results show that the presence of EcMF changes soil organic resource availability, impacts the proliferation of different bacterial communities (in terms of both type and potential function), and primes plant root chemistry for pathogen suppression and energy conservation. Our findings therefore provide much-needed insight into how two of the most dominant soil microbial groups interact with one another and with their host plant. 

Droughts of increasing severity and frequency are a primary cause of forest mortality associated with climate change. Yet, fundamental knowledge gaps regarding the complex physiology of trees limit the development of more effective management strategies to mitigate drought effects on forests. Here, we highlight some of the basic research needed to better understand tree drought physiology and how new technologies and interdisciplinary approaches can be used to address them. Our discussion focuses on how trees change wood development to mitigate water stress, hormonal responses to drought, genetic variation underlying adaptive drought phenotypes, how trees ‘remember’ prior stress exposure, and how symbiotic soil microbes affect drought response. Next, we identify opportunities for using research findings to enhance or develop new strategies for managing drought effects on forests, ranging from matching genotypes to environments, to enhancing seedling resilience through nursery treatments, to landscape‐scale monitoring and predictions. We conclude with a discussion of the need for co‐producing research with land managers and extending research to forests in critical ecological regions beyond the temperate zone. 

Summary Ectomycorrhizal symbiosis is essential for the nutrition of most temperate forest trees and helps regulate the movement of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) through forested ecosystems. The factors governing the exchange of plant C for fungal N, however, remain obscure.Because competition and soil resources may influence ectomycorrhizal resource movement, we performed a 10‐month split‐root microcosm study usingPinus muricataseedlings withThelephora terrestris,Suillus pungens, or no ectomycorrhizal fungus, under two N concentrations in artificial soil. Fungi competed directly with roots and indirectly with each other. We used stable isotope enrichment to track plant photosynthate and fungal N.ForT. terrestris, plants received N commensurate with the C given to their fungal partners.Thelephora terrestriswas a superior mutualist under high‐N conditions. ForS. pungens, plant C and fungal N exchange were not coupled. However, in low‐N conditions, plants preferentially allocated C toS. pungensrather thanT. terrestris.Our results suggest that ectomycorrhizal resource transfer depends on competitive and nutritional context. Plants can exchange C for fungal N, but coupling of these resources can depend on the fungal species and soil N. Understanding the diversity of fungal strategies, and how they change with environmental context, reveals mechanisms driving this important symbiosis.