Abstract
In agricultural production, it is crucial to increase the availability of phosphorus (P) in cultivated soil to solve the P limitation. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been proven to promote crop nutrient absorption effectively, while biochar can lead to improvements in soil properties. However, the possible synergistic effect of AMF and biochar on P uptake by crops as well as its underlying mechanisms are unclear. In this study, we conducted a pot experiment to explore the effects of biochar and AMF (Glomus etunicatum) on the community of rhizospheric phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms (PSMs) of maize (Zea mays L. Xianyu-335) using metagenomic methods. The experiment used 0 mg P2O5 g·kg−1 soil (P0) and 30 mg P2O5 g·kg−1 soil (P30) application rates. Each P application rate included 0 (NC), 20 g·kg−1 biochar (BC) addition, inoculation AMF, and without AMF treatments (NM) for a total of eight treatments. During the experiment, both the P uptake and the biomass of maize were measured. The study found that the combination of AMF and biochar significantly increased the mycorrhizal colonization rate of maize roots, regardless of P application level. It was observed that the P uptake by maize was significantly increased when exposed to a combination of AMF and biochar. The increase in P uptake in P0 treatments was 67% higher than the sum of the effects of biochar and AMF inoculation alone. The increase was only 35% higher in P30 treatments, demonstrating a substantially higher interactive effect under P0 than under P30 conditions. The AM-BC treatments significantly increased the abundance of Streptomyces, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas, genera that are known to contain PSMs. In addition, the abundance of genes related to P-cycling (gcd, phoD, and ugpQ) in PSMs increased significantly by 1.5–1.8 times in AM-BC treatments compared with NM-BC and AM-NC treatments under P0 conditions. This increase was significantly and positively correlated with the P uptake. Overall, the results suggest that biochar can help AMF colonize the roots, increasing the functional roles of PSMs in the rhizosphere, which in turn promotes P uptake and biomass in maize. This study provides a new way to improve P-use efficiency and reduce the need for P-fertilizer application in agricultural production.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
AMF and biochar increased maize root colonization.
- Treatment
- combination of AMF and biochare0
- Interactor
- AMFe0symbiont
- Outcome
- mycorrhizal colonization rate of maize rootse0
- Direction
- increasede0
Zea maysNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The study found that the combination of AMF and biochar significantly increased the mycorrhizal colonization rate of maize roots, regardless of P application level.”
Claim · model-written summary
AMF and biochar increased maize P uptake.
- Treatment
- combination of AMF and biochare0
- Interactor
- AMFe0symbiont
- Outcome
- P uptake by maizee0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“It was observed that the P uptake by maize was significantly increased when exposed to a combination of AMF and biochar.”
Claim · model-written summary
Under P0, the P uptake gain exceeded summed single-treatment effects by 67%.
- Treatment
- P0 treatmentse0
- Interactor
- AMFe0symbiont
- Outcome
- P uptakee0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 67%e0
- Comparator
- biochar and AMF inoculation alonee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The increase in P uptake in P0 treatments was 67% higher than the sum of the effects of biochar and AMF inoculation alone.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The P30 interactive P uptake gain was 35%.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The increase was only 35% higher in P30 treatments, demonstrating a substantially higher interactive effect under P0 than under P30 conditions.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
AM-BC increased three PSM-containing genera.
- Treatment
- AM-BC treatmentse0
- Outcome
- abundance of Streptomyces, Bacillus, and Pseudomonase0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The AM-BC treatments significantly increased the abundance of Streptomyces, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas, genera that are known to contain PSMs.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
AM-BC increased P-cycling gene abundance in PSMs by 1.5–1.8 times under P0.
- Treatment
- AM-BC treatmentse0
- Gene
- gcd, phoD, and ugpQe0
- Outcome
- abundance of genes related to P-cyclinge0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 1.5–1.8 timese0
- Comparator
- NM-BC and AM-NC treatmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the abundance of genes related to P-cycling (gcd, phoD, and ugpQ) in PSMs increased significantly by 1.5–1.8 times in AM-BC treatments compared with NM-BC and AM-NC treatments under P0 conditions.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The gene abundance increase correlated positively with P uptake.
Not reportedMaterialGeneCompoundOrgan / stageInteractorTreatmentComparatorSetting
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This increase was significantly and positively correlated with the P uptake.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest biochar-assisted AMF colonization promotes PSM function, maize P uptake and biomass.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Overall, the results suggest that biochar can help AMF colonize the roots, increasing the functional roles of PSMs in the rhizosphere, which in turn promotes P uptake and biomass in maize.”
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