Biochemical and ecophysiological responses to manganese stress by ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus tinctorius and in association with Eucalyptus grandis

At relatively low concentrations, the element manganese (Mn) is essential for plant metabolism, especially for photosynthesis and as an enzyme antioxidant cofactor. However, industrial and agricultural activities have greatly increased Mn concentrations, and thereby contamination, in soils. We tested whether and how growth of Pisolithus tinctorius is influenced by Mn and glucose and compare the activities of oxidative stress enzymes as biochemical markers of Mn stress. We also compared nutrient accumulation, ecophysiology, and biochemical responses in Eucalyptus grandis which had been colonized by the ectomycorrhizal Pisolithus tinctorius with those which had not, when both were exposed to increasing Mn concentrations. In vitro experiments comprised six concentrations of Mn in three concentrations of glucose. In vivo experiments used plants colonized by Pisolithus tinctorius, or not colonized, grown with three concentrations of Mn (0, 200, and 1000 μM). We found that fungal growth and glucose concentration were correlated, but these were not influenced by Mn levels in the medium. The anti-oxidative enzymes catalase and glutathione S-transferase were both activated when the fungus was exposed to Mn. Also, mycorrhizal plants grew more and faster than non-mycorrhizal plants, whatever Mn exposure. Photosynthesis rate, intrinsic water use efficiency, and carboxylation efficiency were all inversely correlated with Mn concentration. Thus, we originally show that the ectomycorrhizal fungus provides protection for its host plants against varying and potentially toxic concentrations of Mn.