Root fungi recruit bacteria to feed leek plants from rock phosphate
Lahrach Z, Legeay J, Ahmed B, Hijri M
Mycorrhizal Networks
Rock phosphate spread around your vegetable bed holds more phosphorus than most plants can access on their own, but inoculating seedlings with mycorrhizal fungi opens that locked pantry and pulls nutrition straight into the roots.
Plants need phosphorus to grow, but most of the phosphorus in soil minerals is locked in forms roots can't absorb on their own. Mycorrhizal fungi, the web of hair-thin threads woven through healthy soil and into plant roots, can recruit neighboring bacteria to dissolve that locked phosphorus and channel it into the plant. Leek plants grown with these fungi absorbed more phosphorus, produced more biomass, and photosynthesized more efficiently, all from rock phosphate alone.
Key Findings
Mycorrhizal fungus inoculation significantly increased total leek biomass (p < 0.001), confirming the growth benefit of the symbiosis independent of fertilizer type
Rock phosphate amendment boosted fungal structures inside roots (p = 0.03) and raised shoot phosphorus content (p = 0.013) and photosynthetic activity (p < 0.0001)
Rock phosphate significantly shifted bacterial communities living on fungal threads (p = 0.01), with Planctomycetota and Bacillota forming the core bacteriome on fungal hyphae
chevron_right Technical Summary
Mycorrhizal fungi in leek roots can mobilize phosphorus from rock phosphate, an abundant but hard-to-use mineral fertilizer, by working alongside specific soil bacteria. This study shows the fungal-bacterial partnership drives real gains in plant growth and phosphorus uptake, suggesting a biological route to cutting synthetic fertilizer use in food production.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Effects of rock phosphate on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-associated bacterial communities and their contribution to phosphorus acquisition in leek.
Inter-kingdom interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and bacteria are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance fertilizer use efficiency in agroecosystems. Here, we i...
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A leek is a biennial vegetable, a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek. The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes colloquially called a "stem" or "stalk".