Endomycorrhizal fungi in nitrogen transfer from soybean to maize

Using ¹⁵N as a tracer, interspecific N-transfer was studied during the course of plant development. The use of barriers of differing permeabilities between donor and receiver plants allowed separation of the effect of mycorrhizal colonization, root or hyphal contact and interplant hyphal bridging, on ¹⁵N-transfer from soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) to maize (Zea mays L.). More transfer was measured between mycorrhizal plants, but transport of ¹⁵N from the labelled host plant to Glomus versiforme (Karsten) Berch did not seem to occur at the symbiotic interface, suggesting that the fungus is independent of its host for its N-nutrition, and that the role of hyphal bridges in N-transfer between plants, is not significant. Uptake by the receiver plant of the N excreted by the donor plant root system appears to be the mechanism of N-transfer between plants. The factor most affecting ¹⁵N-transfer between plants was found to be the extent of the contact between plant root systems. The presence of the endomycorrhizal fungus in plant roots reduced ¹⁵N-loss from soybean, but at the same time, its extensive hyphal network improved the efficiency of the maize root system for the recovery of the ¹⁵N excreted by soybeans. The net result was a better conservation of the N resource within the plant system. The transfer of N between mycorrhizal plants was particularly enhanced by the death of the soybean.