Translocation of C^(14)‐Labeled Compounds in Mycorrhizae and It Implications in Interplant Nutrient Cycling

Reid, C. P. P.; Woods, Frank W.

Translocation of C^(14)‐Labeled Compounds in Mycorrhizae and It Implications in Interplant Nutrient Cycling

1969

Reid, C. P. P. | Woods, Frank W.

Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) seedlings were grown axenically in mycorrhizae synthesis cultures with either the symbiont Pisolithus tinctorius (Pers.) Coker and Couch or Thelephora terrestris (Ehrh.) Fr. Glassware was designed to allow synthesis of mycorrhizae on two seedlings physically separated except for a bridge formed between the two root systems by mycorrhizal fungus mycelium. Glucose—C¹ ⁴ and sucrose—C¹ ⁴ were used as tracers to investigate movement of labeled compounds from mycorrhizal roots to external mycelium, from external mycelium to roots and from one root system to the other via shared mycelium. Whether applied to foliage as glucose—C¹ ⁴ or sucrose—C¹ ⁴, C¹ ⁴ was readily translocated to pine roots. Transport of C¹ ⁴ from mycorrhizal roots to external hyphae of T. terrestris up to a distance of 12 cm was shown, but only slight movement of C¹ ⁴ occurred into external hyphae of P. tinctorius. The introduction of glucose—C¹ ⁴ and sucrose—C¹ ⁴ to isolated strands of T. terrestris resulted in the movement of C¹ ⁴ from strands to roots. Movement of isotope from one seedling to the other via mutually—shared mycelium did not occur in the synthesis cultures; however, C¹ ⁴ movement between root systems artifically linked by mycelial strands indicated that interplant exchange can take place. Evidence suggests that mycorrhizal fungi such as T. terrestris could be effective in the exchange of organic and possibly other materials between root systems in an ecosystem.

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