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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2008, p. 738-744, Vol. 74, No. 3
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02188-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Root Exudates Regulate Soil Fungal Community Composition and Diversity{triangledown}

Corey D. Broeckling,1,2,3 Amanda K. Broz,1,2 Joy Bergelson,4 Daniel K. Manter,1,5* and Jorge M. Vivanco1,2*

Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523,1 Center for Rhizosphere Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523,2 Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523,3 Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637,4 USDA-ARS Soil-Plant-Nutrient Research Unit, Fort Collins, Colorado 805265

Received 25 September 2007/ Accepted 28 November 2007

Plants are in constant contact with a community of soil biota that contains fungi ranging from pathogenic to symbiotic. A few studies have demonstrated a critical role of chemical communication in establishing highly specialized relationships, but the general role for root exudates in structuring the soil fungal community is poorly described. This study demonstrates that two model plant species (Arabidopsis thaliana and Medicago truncatula) are able to maintain resident soil fungal populations but unable to maintain nonresident soil fungal populations. This is mediated largely through root exudates: the effects of adding in vitro-generated root exudates to the soil fungal community were qualitatively and quantitatively similar to the results observed for plants grown in those same soils. This effect is observed for total fungal biomass, phylotype diversity, and overall community similarity to the starting community. Nonresident plants and root exudates influenced the fungal community by both positively and negatively impacting the relative abundance of individual phylotypes. A net increase in fungal biomass was observed when nonresident root exudates were added to resident plant treatments, suggesting that increases in specific carbon substrates and/or signaling compounds support an increased soil fungal population load. This study establishes root exudates as a mechanism through which a plant is able to regulate soil fungal community composition.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Phone for Daniel K. Manter: (970) 492-7255. Fax: (970) 492-7213. E-mail: Daniel.Manter{at}ars.usda.gov. Phone for Jorge M. Vivanco: (970) 491-7179. Fax: (907) 491-7745. E-mail: j.vivanco{at}colostate.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 14 December 2007.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2008, p. 738-744, Vol. 74, No. 3
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02188-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Biedrzycki, M. L., Bais, H. P. (2009). Root secretions: from genes and molecules to microbial associations. J Exp Bot 60: 1533-1534 [Full Text]  


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