Short-Term Evaluation of the Spatial Distribution of Trophic Groups of Amoebae in the Rhizosphere of Zea mays Inoculated with Rhizophagus intraradices

Primary production in terrestrial ecosystems is sustained by plants, microbiota, and fungi, which are the major organic matter providers in the root zone, setting in motion the soil food webs. Predators like soil amoebae voraciously feed on bacteria, fungi, and microbial eukaryotes releasing the nut...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbial ecology 2023-08, Vol.86 (2), p.997-1009
Main Authors: Cortés-Pérez, Sandra, Ferrera-Cerrato, Ronald, Rodríguez-Zaragoza, Salvador, Alarcón, Alejandro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arbuscular mycorrhizas
Bacteria
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Distribution
Ecology
Eukaryotes
Food chains
Food webs
Fungi
Geoecology/Natural Processes
Life Sciences
Microbial Ecology
Microbiology
Microbiota
Microorganisms
Nature Conservation
Nutrients
Nutrition
Organic matter
Phosphorus
Plant Microbe Interactions
Plants
Predators
Primary production
Protozoa
Rare species
Rhizophagus intraradices
Rhizosphere
Root zone
Seedlings
Soil
Soils
Spatial distribution
Species richness
Terrestrial ecosystems
Water Quality/Water Pollution
Zea mays
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Summary:Primary production in terrestrial ecosystems is sustained by plants, microbiota, and fungi, which are the major organic matter providers in the root zone, setting in motion the soil food webs. Predators like soil amoebae voraciously feed on bacteria, fungi, and microbial eukaryotes releasing the nutrients sequestered in their biomass. Early food web setting up is crucial for seedling nutrition and its further development after establishment. Mycorrhizal fungi are more than phosphorus providers, and we wonder what their role is in structuring the predators’ trophic groups in the root zone. We evaluated the effect of Rhizophagus intraradices inoculated in Zea mays (mycorrhizosphere), on the structuration of amoebae trophic groups along vertical and horizontal (3, 6, and 9 cm) soil distribution when compared to un-inoculated plants, after 20 days in microcosms. Amoebae species richness was highest in non-mycorrhizal seedlings in the root zone at 6- to 9-cm depth, and 3 cm away from plants. More bacterial species are needed when plants are devoid of mycorrhiza, and their influence is constrained 3 cm away from roots. Higher diversity of trophic groups was recorded at mycorrhizal seedlings and at the compartment influenced by the mycelium at 6- to 9-cm depth. The highest bacterivorous diversity, higher number of rare species and protozoa-eating amoebae, and the absence of fungivorous group recorded at the mycorrhizosphere of Z. mays , indicate that the community was very different from the non-mycorrhizal plants. We conclude that the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus exerts significant changes on the community of trophic groups of amoebae.
ISSN:0095-3628
1432-184X
DOI:10.1007/s00248-022-02132-3