Does percent root length colonization and soil hyphal length reflect the extent of colonization for all AMF?

Percent root length colonization may not be an appropriate measure of root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in all cases. We suggest that AMF will differ in how well percent root length colonization measures the amount of AMF colonization in the root due to differences among AMF in hyphal structure and hyphal aggregation. Although soil hyphal length accounts for hyphal density, we suggest that it does not consider differences in hyphal structure in measurements of external colonization and thus might also misrepresent the true amount of AMF in the soil. To test these suggestions, we measured and compared percent root length colonization and soil hyphal length with root ergosterol and soil ergosterol, respectively, for 21 different species of AMF from three families in a greenhouse experiment. Percent root length colonization predicted intra-radical colonization best for Glomaceae and Acaulosporaceae isolates, while soil hyphal length best represented soil ergosterol for Gigasporaceae isolates. The results show that conventional methods for estimating AMF colonization are not universal for all AMF. Caution is advised when drawing inferences for different groups of AMF.

The aerenchymatous phellem of Lythrum salicaria (L.): a pathway for gas transport and its role in flood tolerance.

While the importance of cortical aerenchyma in flood tolerance is well established, this pathway for gaseous exchange is often destroyed during secondary growth. For woody species, therefore, an additional pathway must develop for oxygen to reach submerged tissues. In this paper we examine the potential for the aerenchymatous phellem (cork) of Lythrum salicaria L. to provide a pathway for gas transport from shoots to roots and assess its importance in flood tolerance. Plants in which the continuity of the aerenchymatous phellem between shoots and roots was broken showed a significant reduction in oxygen levels in roots, but no difference in carbon dioxide levels compared with controls that retained an intact phellem. These plants also had a greater total shoot height and shoot dry weight, and an increase in shoot/root dry mass ratios compared with controls. Total dry weight was not significantly affected by this treatment. This study is the first to show that the aerenchymatous phellem can provide a pathway for gaseous exchange between roots and shoots and can influence plant morphology and patterns of resource allocation. This suggests that this tissue may play a significant role in the flood tolerance of a woody plant.