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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 6, 2025

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

Population-level variation in host plant response to multiple microbial mutualists.

James B Franklin¹, Kendra Hockey¹, Hafiz Maherali¹

¹Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada.

American Journal of Botany

|October 8, 2020

Summary

Plant growth benefits from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and rhizobia bacteria, but responses vary by legume population. AM fungi had a larger impact than rhizobia, suggesting independent evolution of these plant-microbe mutualisms.

Keywords:

Fabaceae Medicago truncatula Rhizophagus irregularis Sinorhizobium medicae arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi legume mutualism plant-microbe interactions rhizobia bacteria tripartite interactions

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A Hydroponic Co-cultivation System for Simultaneous and Systematic Analysis of Plant/Microbe Molecular Interactions and Signaling

Published on: July 22, 2017

Area of Science:

Plant biology
Ecology
Microbiology

Background:

Multipartite mutualisms, interactions involving more than two species, are common in nature.
The symbiosis between legumes, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and rhizobia bacteria is a key model for studying these relationships.
Understanding population-level variation in these interactions is crucial but rarely quantified.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate population-level variation in Medicago truncatula's response to AM fungi and rhizobia.
To determine if synergistic interactions between these microbial mutualists are prevalent.
To assess whether host plant responses to microbial partners differ across populations.

Main Methods:

A factorial experiment was conducted using 34 Medicago truncatula populations.
The experiment manipulated the presence or absence of AM fungi and rhizobia.
Plant growth was measured to quantify responses to each mutualist.

Main Results:

Plant growth significantly increased with the addition of each mutualist individually.
No synergistic effects were observed; responses to AM fungi were much larger than to rhizobia.
Plant responses to AM fungi showed significant variation among populations, while responses to rhizobia were uniform.
A positive correlation existed between host response to each mutualist, but no correlation was found between AM fungal colonization and rhizobia nodulation.

Conclusions:

Legume responses to AM fungi and rhizobia appear to evolve independently across populations.
Population divergence in host response was greater for AM fungi than for rhizobia.
The lack of correlation between measures of AM fungal and rhizobia performance supports the hypothesis of independent evolution.