Increasing phosphorus concentration in the extraradical hyphae of Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM 197198 leads to a concomitant increase in metal minerals

Abstract

Plants associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) acquire phosphorus via roots and extraradical hyphae. How soil P level affects P accumulation within hyphae and how P in hyphae influences the accumulation of metal minerals remains little explored. A bi-compartmented in vitro cultivation system separating a root compartment (RC), containing a Ri T-DNA transformed carrot root associated to the AMF Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM 197198, from a hyphal compartment (HC), containing only the extraradical hyphae, was used. The HC contained a liquid growth medium (i.e., the modified Strullu-Romand medium containing P in the form of KH₂PO₄) without (0 μM) or adjusted to 35, 100, and 700 μM of KH₂PO₄. The accumulation of P and metal minerals (Ca, Mg, K, Na, Fe, Cu, Mn) within extraradical hyphae and AMF-colonized roots, and the expression of the phosphate transporter gene GintPT were assessed. The expression of GintPT in the extraradical hyphae did not differ in absence of KH₂PO₄ or in presence of 35 and 100 μM KH₂PO₄ in the HC but was markedly reduced in presence of 700 μM KH₂PO₄. Hyphal P concentration was significantly lowest in absence of KH₂PO₄, intermediate at 35 and 100 μM KH₂PO₄ and significantly highest in presence of 700 μM KH₂PO₄ in the HC. The concentrations of K, Mg, and Na were positively associated with the concentration of P in the extraradical hyphae developing in the HC. Similarly, P concentration in extraradical hyphae in the HC was related to P concentration in the growth medium and influenced the concentration of K, Mg, and Na. The accumulation of the metal mineral K, Mg, and Na in the extraradical hyphae developing in the HC was possibly related to their function in neutralizing the negative charges of PolyP accumulated in the hyphae.

Keywords: Charge neutralization; Extraradical hyphae; GintPT gene expression; Metal minerals; PolyP accumulation.