Sex-specific adaptive strategies and rhizosphere microbiome responses to drought stress in Bouteloua dactyloides.
Huang C, Ding Z, Guo Y, Ma X, Li J
Mycorrhizal Networks
Male and female buffalograss plants in a native lawn are running completely different drought-survival playbooks — knowing which sex (or what ratio) to seed into a dry-climate lawn or prairie restoration could mean a living stand versus a dead one by August.
Buffalograss, like some trees and shrubs, comes in male and female plants. Scientists discovered that when a drought hits, female plants cope by sprouting more roots to dig deeper for water, while male plants instead recruit helpful fungi living in the soil around their roots to help them survive. Both sexes got stressed by the drought, but they each had their own backup plan — which is a big deal for anyone trying to grow a tough, low-water lawn or restore native grassland.
Key Findings
Female buffalograss developed a significantly higher root-to-shoot ratio under drought, indicating a morphological strategy of investing in water-foraging root growth.
Male buffalograss rhizospheres were strongly enriched in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) under drought, suggesting males outsource drought resilience to symbiotic soil fungi.
Drought increased fungal alpha diversity only in males, with male rhizospheres enriched in Basidiomycota and Glomeromycota, while both sexes saw suppressed bacterial aerobic metabolism and reduced pathogenic fungi.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Male and female buffalograss plants survive drought using entirely different strategies: females grow more roots to chase water, while males recruit beneficial soil fungi as allies. This sex-specific division of labor, previously unknown in this grass, has direct implications for selecting the right seed mixes for drought-prone native lawns and restoration sites.
Abstract Preview
Drought is becoming more frequent and severe under global climate change. Bouteloua dactyloides (Nutt.) (hereafter, B. dactyloides) is a dioecious, drought-tolerant warm-season turfgrass, but wheth...
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