Francesc Garcia-Figueres

Response of the grapevine rootstock Richter 110 to inoculation with native and selected arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and growth performance in a replant vineyard

Two indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi from the Mediterranean wine growing area in the Northeast of Spain were isolated and classified as Glomus intraradices Schenck & Smith. Both native fungi were found to increase the growth of the vine rootstock 110 Richter under greenhouse conditions compared with G. intraradices (BEG 72) and a phosphorus (P) fertilization treatment. The effectivity of field inoculation of Cabernet Sauvignon plants grafted on Richter 110 with the former native fungi and with G. intraradices BEG 72 in a replant vineyard severely infested by the root-rot fungus Armillaria mellea (Vahl ex Fr.) Kummer was assessed. The native fungi were not effective at enhancing plant development, and only G. intraradices BEG 72, resulted in a positive response. Field inoculation with this selected fungus increased plant shoot dry weight at the end of the first growing season.

A semiaxenic phototrophic system to study interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal and pathogenic fungi in woody plants

Among other benefits, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi may increase plant tolerance to root diseases. The research on the underlying mechanisms requires growth conditions that are both controlled and realistic. To study these interactions, a semiaxenic phototrophic system was developed in which the roots grow in a controlled environment and can be inoculated with both pathogenic and symbiotic fungi. Micropropagated fig plantlets were grown in containers having shoots in the outside and roots in a growth medium without sugar, inoculated or not with the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis and the pathogenic fungus Armillaria mellea. Dual inoculated plants developed the mycorrhizal association and pathogen infection symptoms. Mycorrhizal inoculation lowered disease index and increased plant growth. Colonization of A. mellea in fig roots was quantified by real-time PCR, showing that R. irregularis did not significantly lower the quantity of Armillaria, suggesting that other mechanisms were involved in increased tolerance to the pathogen. The results show that the system proposed is suitable to study the triple interaction involving plant, AM and root pathogenic fungi.