MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-10-07DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01321-z
Samaneh Tajik, Florence Breuillin-Sessoms, Timothy Frey, Jelmer W Poelstra, Horacio D Lopez-Nicora, Maria Soledad Benitez Ponce
{"title":"Environmental variables associated with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi diversity in Ohio soybean agricultural systems.","authors":"Samaneh Tajik, Florence Breuillin-Sessoms, Timothy Frey, Jelmer W Poelstra, Horacio D Lopez-Nicora, Maria Soledad Benitez Ponce","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01321-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01321-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a crucial role in crop productivity and agroecosystem processes. However, the composition of soil AMF communities and the factors associated with their diversity and distribution in Ohio remain poorly understood. We profiled both soil AMF and physico-chemical characteristics in 18 soybean fields across agricultural regions in Ohio. AMF sequences were recovered through amplicon sequencing of the 18S ribosomal gene coupled with PacBio technology. We detected 14 genera belonging to six families of the Glomeromycota. The family Glomeraceae accounted for 39% of the AMF reads recovered, while the families Gigasporaceae and Archaeosporaceae were rare (detected in < 25% of samples). At the genus level, Entrophospora, Nanoglomus, Paraglomus, and Funneliformis were widespread, contrasting with rare taxa such as Gigaspora, Dominikia, and Archaeospora. For the studied soil parameters, only phosphorus was significantly associated with AMF community composition. These findings provide a baseline of AMF communities in Ohio soybean fields and highlight abiotic components influencing these communities. Future research should expand sampling to other regions of the state and evaluate root colonization and evaluation of AMF impacts on soybean yields in Ohio.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642480/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149112324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-10-06DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01315-x
Kenji Suetsugu, Hidehito Okada, Akihiro Nishimura
{"title":"Stable isotope signatures of pelotons and rhizomorphs reveal nutritional plasticity in Cremastra appendiculata (Orchidaceae).","authors":"Kenji Suetsugu, Hidehito Okada, Akihiro Nishimura","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01315-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01315-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many photosynthetic orchids combine photosynthesis with fungal carbon acquisition, yet the isotopic relationships between orchids and their fungal partners remain poorly resolved. Direct stable isotope analysis of pelotons and extraradical fungal tissues can refine fungal baselines and clarify nutritional dynamics in orchid mycorrhizas. We investigated Cremastra appendiculata, a photosynthetic orchid with contrasting mycorrhizal states, by comparing fungal communities between individuals with and without coralloid rhizomes and analyzing the δ<sup>13</sup>C and δ<sup>15</sup>N values of leaves, protocorms, coralloid rhizomes, pelotons, Psathyrellaceae rhizomorphs, dead wood, and autotrophic reference plants. Psathyrellaceae-associated individuals were strongly enriched in <sup>13</sup>C relative to autotrophic reference plants, indicating substantial acquisition of fungal carbon, whereas rhizoctonia-associated individuals exhibited little <sup>13</sup>C enrichment and appeared predominantly autotrophic. Leaf δ<sup>15</sup>N values exceeded those of the associated fungal tissues in both states, suggesting plant-mediated <sup>15</sup>N enrichment during nitrogen assimilation and allocation to leaves. Coralloid rhizome pelotons did not differ detectably in δ<sup>13</sup>C or δ<sup>15</sup>N between digestion stages. Pelotons resembled extraradical Psathyrellaceae rhizomorphs in δ<sup>15</sup>N but had higher δ<sup>13</sup>C values, indicating tissue-specific carbon isotope baselines. Psathyrellaceae tissues were less <sup>13</sup>C enriched than fungal tissues reported from fully mycoheterotrophic orchids associated with wood-decaying fungi. These results support contrasting nutritional states in C. appendiculata: a predominantly autotrophic, rhizoctonia-associated state and a more fungus-dependent, Psathyrellaceae-associated state. The fungal isotope pattern raises the possibility that bidirectional carbon transfer persists even in the latter state. Determining whether the orchid transfers carbon to its fungal partners requires controlled culture or tracer experiments.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642392/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149112353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-10-06DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01320-0
Yu-An Chiang, Franziska E Zahn, Wen-Ju Yang, Gerhard Gebauer, Yung-I Lee
{"title":"Reduced fungal dependency during in situ germination of the terrestrial orchid Bletilla formosana.","authors":"Yu-An Chiang, Franziska E Zahn, Wen-Ju Yang, Gerhard Gebauer, Yung-I Lee","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01320-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01320-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Orchid seed germination is generally considered to be obligatorily dependent on mycorrhizal fungi. However, some terrestrial orchids are capable of asymbiotic germination in water agar under laboratory conditions, raising questions about the degree of fungal dependency during germination in nature. Here, we investigated in situ germination and fungal associations of the terrestrial orchid Bletilla formosana in Taiwan using seed packet experiments, high-throughput sequencing, ink staining, and stable isotope analyses. B. formosana exhibited rapid germination and a relatively high germination percentage under natural conditions, with seeds germinating within one month and median germination reaching 43.4%. Germination varied among sites without a significant overall site effect and was not affected by proximity to conspecific plants. High-throughput ITS amplicon sequencing revealed that germinated protocorms associated with diverse fungi across Basidiomycota, including Oxyporus, Serendipita, and Ceratobasidium. Although fungal pelotons were detected in approximately 61.7% of protocorms, colonization levels were low, with only 1.96% of protocorm cells colonized. Stable isotope analyses revealed significant ¹³C enrichment in protocorms relative to surrounding autotrophic plants, indicating fungal-derived carbon acquisition during germination. These results demonstrate that B. formosana maintains fungal associations during germination in nature but exhibits substantially reduced fungal dependency compared with most terrestrial orchids.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149112319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-10-06DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01322-y
Suma R Ghosh, John Paul M Wasan, Lysandra A Pyle, Bill Biligetu, Jonathan A Bennett
{"title":"Intraspecific variation in mycorrhiza-associated traits predicts plant responses to resource limitation.","authors":"Suma R Ghosh, John Paul M Wasan, Lysandra A Pyle, Bill Biligetu, Jonathan A Bennett","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01322-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01322-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Variation in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) root colonization and associated root traits among plant species plays a crucial role in determining plant community responses to environmental change. However, species mean trait values often obscure substantial variation among individuals within a species. Because trait-based ecology has focused predominantly on interspecific differences, the intraspecific responses of AMF-associated traits to resource limitations remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we examined intraspecific variation in AMF-associated traits among genetically diverse individuals of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) under drought and nutrient limitation. Drought induced the greatest intraspecific variation in plant performance and AMF-associated traits. In both species, baseline levels of hyphae and arbuscule colonization predicted subsequent responses to drought stress. However, species-specific patterns emerged following stress. In alfalfa, plant individuals with lower shoot mortality were associated with greater vesicle colonization and increased average root diameter, indicating a shift toward carbon storage and altered root morphology during stress recovery. Conversely, despite higher overall arbuscule and hyphae colonization in sainfoin, intraspecific variation in drought tolerance was primarily linked to root tissue density, highlighting the importance of root structural investment rather than AMF abundance. These findings highlight that, while AMF-associated trait responses to stress are species-specific, substantial variation exists among individuals within a species, and this variation strongly influences plant performance under stress. Our results underscore the importance of incorporating intraspecific variation into trait-based frameworks for understanding plant community responses to environmental change and for integrating AMF-associated traits into cultivar selection for sustainable agricultural systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149112394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-09-29DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01316-w
Max Brubaker, Selina Spence, Miranda Hart
{"title":"AMF genotype and host identity determine AMF inoculant performance.","authors":"Max Brubaker, Selina Spence, Miranda Hart","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01316-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01316-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) as biofertilizers is limited by variable outcomes. Although differential outcomes among AMF and hosts are well documented, the relative importance of fungal identity, host identity, and soil nutrient availability in determining symbiotic outcomes remains unclear, particularly in soils containing resident AMF communities. We crossed five AMF isolates spanning a gradient of phylogenetic relatedness and ecological strategies with four host plant species under two soil nutrient levels in a greenhouse experiment. We quantified inoculant establishment and target gene abundance using isolate-specific digital droplet PCR assays and measured host responses as mycorrhizal responses for root biomass, shoot biomass, and shoot phosphorus content. Differential effects occurred in both directions: AMF isolates differed in their performance among hosts, and hosts differed in their responses to AMF isolates, including conspecific Rhizophagus isolates. AMF isolate identity was the strongest predictor of inoculant establishment and target abundance in roots and soil, whereas host identity explained much of the variation in plant responses. Rhizophagus irregularis isolates consistently established more successfully than other taxa and reached target gene root abundance several orders of magnitude greater than Acaulospora and Gigaspora. Plants inoculated with Gigaspora experienced the most positive growth response overall. Our results show that the ability of AMF inoculants to establish and proliferate within resident communities is largely independent of their capacity to benefit host plants. Thus, evaluating biofertilizer candidates solely on measures of host or fungal performance is insufficient; effective AMF inoculants must be assessed for both competitive establishment and mutualistic function across diverse host and soil communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149075486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-09-29DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01319-7
Tram T Ngo, Quyen H Dang, Nhan T Le, Jaturong Kumla, Dung H Nguyen, Hoang N D Pham
{"title":"New record of ectomycorrhizal association of the genus Nothojafnea in the Northern Hemisphere.","authors":"Tram T Ngo, Quyen H Dang, Nhan T Le, Jaturong Kumla, Dung H Nguyen, Hoang N D Pham","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01319-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01319-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nothojafnea is recognized as an ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal genus currently comprising only two species, both previously reported exclusively from the Southern Hemisphere. Although this genus has been taxonomically recognized, detailed descriptions of its ECM morphology and anatomical characteristics have remained limited and, in some cases, ambiguous. Simultaneously, molecular data for this genus deposited in the NCBI database are still quite limited, with a substantial proportion consisting of unpublished sequences. In this study, we report the first occurrence of Nothojafnea in Vietnam, based on ECM root tip samples obtained from symbiotic associations with 6-month-old Pinus kesiya seedlings. The identification was supported by an integrated approach combining detailed morphological characterization of ECM structures with multilocus phylogenetic analyses using ITS and LSU sequence data. These findings provide new insights into the diversity and biogeography of this genus, significantly extending its known distribution into Southeast Asia.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149081450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-09-26DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01308-w
Antoine Sportès, Pauline Bruyant, Noureddine E L Mjiyad, Daniel Wipf, Pierre Emmanuel Courty
{"title":"Fungal spatial organization predominates over grapevine host effects in shaping transcriptional programs of Rhizophagus irregularis.","authors":"Antoine Sportès, Pauline Bruyant, Noureddine E L Mjiyad, Daniel Wipf, Pierre Emmanuel Courty","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01308-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01308-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) exhibit strong spatial organization, with the intraradical mycelium (IRM) interacting with host roots and the extraradical mycelium (ERM) exploring soil. However, the putative contributions of fungal spatial organization and/or host genotype to transcriptional regulation remain poorly understood. Here, we analysed the transcriptomic profiles of Rhizophagus irregularis in the intraradical mycelium (IRM) of ten grapevine rootstocks, while the extraradical mycelium (ERM) transcriptome was obtained from a pooled sample representing all rootstocks. By integrating RNA-seq datasets, we observed a clear and consistent separation between IRM and ERM transcriptomes, indicating that the spatial organization of the mycelium is the dominant driver of fungal gene expression. Across all rootstocks, 719 genes were consistently upregulated in the IRM (including fatty acid, sugar and general transporters) and 510 in the ERM (mainly associated with environmental sensing and metabolic processes), defining robust compartment-specific transcriptional signatures. Host genotype significantly modulated IRM transcriptional profiles, but this effect remained secondary to spatial differentiation. Importantly, no correlation was detected between host phylogenetic relatedness and fungal transcriptional profiles, indicating that transcriptional variation in R. irregularis is independent of host genetic relatedness. Taken together, our results support a model where transcriptional variation in R. irregularis is primarily structured by spatial organization, with host genotype only weakly tuning gene expression. These findings highlight the predominance of fungal spatial organization over host effects in shaping AMF transcriptional programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149062791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-09-24DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01310-2
Andrea-Carolin Menzel, Lina Kleemann, Petra Bukovská, Jason N Woodhouse, Peter Mueller, Kai Jensen, Jan Jansa
{"title":"Soil redox potential and plant species identity likely affect root-associated fungi in salt marshes.","authors":"Andrea-Carolin Menzel, Lina Kleemann, Petra Bukovská, Jason N Woodhouse, Peter Mueller, Kai Jensen, Jan Jansa","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01310-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01310-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Root-associated fungi (RAF) are important for plant performance because they form beneficial, neutral, or pathogenic relationships with their hosts, thus regulating nutrient uptake, stress tolerance, and overall plant fitness. At the transition from marine to terrestrial ecosystems, salt marshes are shaped by strong environmental gradients and provide vital ecosystem services such as climate regulation and coastal protection, yet RAF remain poorly understood in these systems. Therefore, we examined the community structure and abundance along this ecotone of RAF in general, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in particular, using microscopy to assess AMF abundance in plant roots, high-throughput sequencing to determine fungal community composition, and measured abiotic soil conditions. The observed shift in fungal community from marine-dominated zones at low elevations to those at the terrestrial end at higher elevations corresponded to a pronounced increase of AMF, from 0.04 ± 0.17% to 14.05 ± 8.61% in arbuscular colonization of roots and from 0.85% ± 2.55% to 19.75% ± 11.77% in relative (root DNA-derived) amplicon abundance of Glomeromycota. It mainly correlated to an increase of the soil redox potential, a proxy for oxygen availability (RDA, R<sup>2</sup> = 0.05, p = 0.004). Within similar environmental conditions of a zone, host species identity became an additional strong biotic filter for the RAF community. Our findings offer new insights into the distribution of fungal communities along the marine-terrestrial ecotone and highlight the need for further research to understand mechanisms of their community assembly, their function and responses to ongoing global change.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13601159/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149030563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-09-24DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01317-9
Calvin Cornell, Catherine Fahey, Nicolas Corradi, Vasilis Kokkoris, Pedro Madeira Antunes
{"title":"Low soil phosphorus conditioning enhances mutualism in Rhizophagus irregularis regardless of nuclear organization, even when phosphorus conditions shift.","authors":"Calvin Cornell, Catherine Fahey, Nicolas Corradi, Vasilis Kokkoris, Pedro Madeira Antunes","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01317-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01317-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Strains of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Rhizophagus irregularis belong to one of two nuclear organizations: homokaryons, which carry genetically similar nuclei, and dikaryons, which harbour two genetically distinct nuclear populations. Although traits tend to be conserved within each group, it is unclear whether their capacity to adapt or exhibit phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental change differs. Here, we tested whether dikaryotic strains have greater potential than homokaryotic strains for rapid adaptation or plasticity in response to shifts in soil phosphorus (P) availability. The experiment first included a conditioning phase in which we measured the growth responses of Allium ampeloprasum L. inoculated with four homokaryotic or four dikaryotic strains under contrasting soil P levels. Next, in the adaptive potential phase, we grew the conditioned strains under both low and high P to assess whether prior P exposure influenced subsequent mutualistic functioning. During conditioning, host biomass was greater under high than low P for both nuclear groups, but increased roughly 3.2-fold for dikaryons and 1.9-fold for homokaryons. In the adaptive potential phase, strains conditioned under low P enhanced host biomass significantly more than those conditioned under high P, and by a similar amount in both P environments. This effect did not differ between dikaryons and homokaryons, but its magnitude varied markedly among individual strains, from no benefit to a roughly two-fold increase in host biomass. Together, these results provide the first experimental evidence that conditioning AM fungi under low soil P can enhance their subsequent benefits to host plants, even when P availability increases. Soil P conditioning strategies for AM fungi, therefore, merit consideration in agriculture and other managed ecosystems, although the strong strain dependence of the effect implies that strain choice and conditioning regime would need to be optimized together.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149040007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MycorrhizaPub Date : 2026-09-24DOI: 10.1007/s00572-026-01318-8
Yule Liu, Yaru Lv, Jingjing Jian, Linyi Meng, Junxin Yan
{"title":"Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance rose resistance to Lymantria dispar through JA-associated regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis.","authors":"Yule Liu, Yaru Lv, Jingjing Jian, Linyi Meng, Junxin Yan","doi":"10.1007/s00572-026-01318-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00572-026-01318-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonization influences plant-insect interactions, but the mechanisms underlying JA-mediated AMF-induced resistance remain unclear. Using rose as the experimental material, Rhizophagus intraradices inoculation combined with the jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis inhibitor SHAM was applied, integrating physiological measurements, hormone quantification, metabolomics, and insect bioassays to elucidate the role of JA-mediated secondary metabolites in AMF-induced resistance. The results showed that AMF colonization significantly increased JA levels and promoted the accumulation of flavonoid (37.21%) and total phenolic (15.38%), whereas SHAM treatment attenuated these responses. Feeding assays showed that larvae of Lymantria dispar exhibited reduced growth on mycorrhizal plants, while SHAM weakened this suppressive effect, suggesting that JA signaling may be involved in AMF-induced resistance. Metabolomic analysis revealed significant enrichment of flavonoid biosynthesis across treatments. Flavonoids, including naringenin, (-)-epicatechin, and kaempferide, were upregulated by AMF but reduced by SHAM. Correlation analysis showed that the contents of these metabolites were significantly positively correlated with JA levels, and negatively correlated with the growth of L. dispar larvae. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) provided statistical support for the hypothesized regulatory pathway, suggesting that AMF-induced resistance of rose against L. dispar may be associated with enhanced flavonoid accumulation in leaves, with JA potentially playing a regulatory role in this process (Goodness-of-fit = 0.79). This study provides a theoretical basis for sustainable pest management through AMF-plant symbiosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":18965,"journal":{"name":"Mycorrhiza","volume":"36 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149039943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}