Record ID No. |
3026 |
Author(s) |
Welc M., Bunemann E., Frossard E., Jansa, J. , 2010 |
Affiliation |
ETH Zurich, Institute of Plant, Animal and Agroecosystem Sciences,Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Group of Plant Nutrition, Eschikon 33, CH-8315 Lindau (ZH), Switzerland, Email monika.welc@ipw.agrl.ethz.ch |
Title |
Enzymatic activities in the rhizosphere of different plants at a glacier forefield |
Source. Vol.(no):Page |
Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of Soil Science, 48-51p. |
Categories |
Mycorrhiza General |
Subjects |
Biochemistry |
Sub-subjects |
Nitrogen metabolism |
Host |
Plants |
Organism |
Mycorrhiza |
Country |
Switzerland, Europe. |
Abstracts |
Availabilities of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are important determinants of primary ecosystem succession. One of the plant strategies to acquire sufficient amounts of P and N in young ecosystems like glacier forefields is to establish mycorrhizal symbiosis. Mycorrhizal fungi have developed different mechanisms to acquire nutrients from soils such as extensive mycelium growth, exudation of organic acids and/or lytic enzymes. Large amounts of such enzymes are produced by many ericoid (ER) and some ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, thus providing access to organic forms of the nutrients. In contrast, arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) are rather functioning as efficient pumps of soluble N and P forms from the soil solution, with limited access to the recalcitrant forms of nutrients. To quantify differences in enzymatic activities between ER, ECM and AM types, rhizosphere soils from four different plants species were collected at different soil developmental stages in a glacier forefield in Switzerland. Activities of different enzymes in the soil samples were assessed using fluorogenic substrates. Elevated chitinase and protease activities were associated with ECM and ER types, respectively, whereas no clear trends were observed for acid phosphatase. Soil developmental stage was an important factor of the background enzymatic activity levels.
|