Increase plant health through mycorrhizal fungi (BIOVINE Practice Abstract)
This BioVine Practice Abstract shows how mycorrhizal fungi can be leveraged to increase plant health, providing practical recommendations for cover cropping.
Different types of pests and abiotic stress factors (e.g., deficiency of nutrients, drought) reduce the quantity and quality of agricultural and horticultural crops worldwide. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate symbionts of a large majority of land plants that provide multiple ecosystem services. The symbiotic interaction of AMF with grapevine roots improves plant development, fitness, health, and fruit quality by improving access to nutrients and water as well as soil structure and tolerance to abiotic stresses and soil-borne pathogens or root diseases. Mycorrhizal symbiosis is a beneficial symbiosis where nutrients are exchanged between the two partners (sugars from plants to AMF; water and micronutrients from AMF to plants). In viticulture, practices such as soil management and the use of fertilisers, herbicides, and pesticides alter microbial diversity and AMF community composition as well as the ecosystem services they provide.
Solution
Grapevine is a woody perennial crop with a winter dormancy after leaves drop. The rise of plant diversity, winter soil-covering vegetation, and the strong reduction of tillage positively impact ecosystem services provided by AMF by increasing their abundance and richness while maintaining the integrity of the common mycelial network. Winegrowers can make use of different types of cover crops and mixtures for a permanent cover rich in weeds and adapted to the vineyard. However, they cannot control weed species that could compete with grapevine for water and nutrients.
Winegrowers might also try various cover plants (e.g., single plants species like cheatgrass or a mixture of Poaceae and Fabaceae) in association with grapevine. Fabaceae form mycorrhizal and rhizobial symbiosis. These plants fix atmospheric nitrogen, which is then transformed to ammonia, a nitrogen source that is either returned to the soil after cutting down the plant or given to the grapevine plant through the common mycorrhizal networks linking plant roots. However, it should be considered that some plants do not or only slightly form arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. This is true for the following plant families: Brassicaceae (e.g., mustard, cabbage, horseradish), Chenopodiaceae (e.g., redroot pigweed), Boraginaceae (e.g., forget-me-not, bell, or borage), Caryophyllaceae (e.g., cowbell, clove pink, red campion), Polygonaceae (e.g., sorrel), Resedaceae (e.g., wild mignonette), Scrophulariaceae (e.g., false pimpernel).
Cover crops can moreover be used as a repellent for parasitic organisms that are harmful to the vine. The chemical composition of root exudates can modify and even inhibit (e.g., Brassicaceae) the growth of arbuscular mycorrhizal communities.
Description
This BioVine Practice Abstract shows how mycorrhizal fungi can be leveraged to increase plant health, providing practical recommendations for cover cropping. Once well established, cover cropping might drive winegrowers to reduce the use of pesticides and fungicides, while also increasing the ecosystem services provided by both plants (e.g., reservoir of biodiversity, bee-forage plants) and mycorrhizal fungi (e.g., nutrition, protection).
In order to use the comment function, you must register with the third-party provider "Disqus".
When you activate this function, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the third-party provider. We would like to point out that data is transmitted to the third-party provider after activation, and the latter may set cookies that can also be used for analysis and marketing purposes. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.
Disqus
In order to use the comment function, you must register with the third-party provider "Disqus".
When you activate this function, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the third-party provider. We would like to point out that data is transmitted to the third-party provider after activation, and the latter may set cookies that can also be used for analysis and marketing purposes. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.
Activate