Abstract
Poplars (Populus spp.) are widely used in the pulp and paper industry and as bioenergy resources. Poplars require a large amount of water for biomass accumulation and lack of water is a limiting factor for poplar growth. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have been previously reported to afford some plant species with greater resistance to drought stress. However, the effects of AM fungi on hybrid poplar under drought stress and recovery have not been studied. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the AM fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, on the growth, water status, chlorophyll (Chl) content and fluorescence, and photosynthesis of poplar seedlings. The experiment was divided into three stages. At each stage of the experiment, the seedlings were subjected to a different watering regime: well-watered (prior stress), drought, and then rewatering (recovery). Measurements were taken at the end of each stage of the experiment. The results showed that mycorrhizal plants had a higher net photosynthetic rate and Chl fluorescence compared with nonmycorrhizal plants, regardless of the stage. Mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants showed different responses to drought stress: mycorrhizal plants showed better water-use efficiency and water uptake under drought stress conditions. In general, the poplar seedlings that formed the AM symbiosis with R. irregularis showed enhanced growth and reduced loss of biomass during the drought stress compared with the nonmycorrhizal seedlings.
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Abbreviations
- AM:
-
arbuscular mycorrhizal
- Chl:
-
chlorophyll
- C i :
-
intercellular CO2 concentration
- DS:
-
drought stress
- E :
-
transpiration rate
- F0 :
-
the minimal fluorescence in dark-adapted state
- F0′:
-
the minimal fluorescence in light-adapted state
- Fm :
-
the maximal fluorescence in dark-adapted state
- Fm′:
-
the maximal fluorescence in light-adapted state
- Fs :
-
the steady-state fluorescence
- Fv/Fm :
-
the maximal quantum yield of PSII in dark-adapted state
- g s :
-
stomatal conductance
- P N :
-
net photosynthetic rate
- qN :
-
nonphotochemical quenching coefficient
- qP :
-
photochemical quenching coefficient
- REC:
-
recovery
- RWC:
-
relative water content
- WUE:
-
water-use efficiency
- WW:
-
well-watered
- ΦPSII :
-
effective quantum yield of PSII
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Acknowledgments: This research was supported by Special Fund for Forest Scientific Research in the Public Welfare (201404217), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31270639 and 31170567), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China (IRT1035), and the Ph.D. Program Foundation of the Education Ministry of China (20110204130001). We also thank the anonymous reviewers for reviewing the manuscript and offering helpful suggestions.
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Liu, T., Sheng, M., Wang, C.Y. et al. Impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the growth, water status, and photosynthesis of hybrid poplar under drought stress and recovery. Photosynthetica 53, 250–258 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0100-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0100-y