Friendly fungus boosts wolfberry harvests by diversifying root soil bacteria
Zhu M, Chen X, Liu X, Hu J, Wang Z
Soil Health
If you garden near the coast or on salty soil, this points to a low-toxicity fungal treatment that could help fruiting shrubs like wolfberry thrive where salt normally stunts growth.
Scientists added a helpful fungus called Trichoderma to the soil around wolfberry shrubs growing in salty coastal fields, and the plants grew bigger and produced more fruit. It turns out the fungus works by making the community of bacteria around the roots more diverse, not by changing which bacteria are there, and this diversity boost was the biggest reason the plants did better, even more than the extra nitrogen the fungus also helped provide.
Key Findings
Trichoderma agent application significantly increased fruit yield, plant dry weight, and nitrogen accumulation in wolfberry grown on saline land.
The fungus raised rhizosphere bacterial diversity (Shannon index) and strengthened the soil bacterial network, without changing overall community structure; beneficial genera Shinella and Flaviaesturariibacter increased in abundance.
Trichoderma reduced the nitrifying bacterium Candidatus Nitrospira nitrificans, suppressing nitrification and raising soil ammonium levels; structural equation modeling showed bacterial diversity, not nitrogen accumulation, was the primary driver of the yield increase.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A beneficial fungus called Trichoderma helped wolfberry plants grow better in salty coastal soil, mainly by boosting the diversity of bacteria living around the plant's roots, which led to more fruit and healthier plants.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trichoderma-induced increase in rhizosphere soil bacterial diversity contributed to wolfberry growth promotion in saline land.
Trichoderma has proved to enhance plant growth under saline stress. However, there is limited research on Trichoderma-induced alterations of rhizosphere microbial communities in woody plants, and t...
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