Abstract
Large-scale biofuel production from lignocellulosic feedstock is limited by the financial and environmental costs associated with growing and processing lignocellulosic material and the resilience of these plants to environmental stress. Symbiotic associations with arbuscular (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi represent a potential strategy for expanding feedstock production while reducing nutrient inputs. Comparing AM and EM effects on wood production and chemical composition is a necessary step in developing biofuel feedstocks. Here, we assessed the productivity, biomass allocation and secondary cell wall (SCW) composition of greenhouse-grown Populus tremuloidesMichx. inoculated with either AM or EM fungi. Given the long-term goal of reducing nutrient inputs for biofuel production, we further tested the effects of nutrient availability and nitrogen:phosphorus stoichiometry on mycorrhizal responses. Associations with both AM and EM fungi increased plant biomass by 14-74% depending on the nutrient conditions but had minimal effects on SCW composition. Mycorrhizal plants, especially those inoculated with EM fungi, also allocated a greater portion of their biomass to roots, which could be beneficial in the field where plants are likely to experience both water and nutrient stress. Leaf nutrient content was weakly but positively correlated with wood production in mycorrhizal plants. Surprisingly, phosphorus played a larger role in EM plants compared with AM plants. Relative nitrogen and phosphorus availability were correlated with shifts in SCW composition. For AM associations, the benefit of increased wood biomass may be partially offset by increased lignin content, a trait that affects downstream processing of lignocellulosic tissue for biofuels. By comparing AM and EM effects on the productivity and chemical composition of lignocellulosic tissue, this work links broad functional diversity in mycorrhizal associations to key biofuel traits and highlights the importance of considering both biotic and abiotic factors when developing strategies for sustainable biofuel production.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed public-domain. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
AM associations increased poplar biomass by 14–74%, depending on nutrient conditions.
PopulusNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Associations with both AM and EM fungi increased plant biomass by 14-74% depending on the nutrient conditions”
t0“poplar”
Claim · model-written summary
EM associations increased poplar biomass by 14–74%, depending on nutrient conditions.
- Treatment
- EM fungie0
- Interactor
- EM fungie0symbiont
- Outcome
- plant biomasse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 14-74%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Associations with both AM and EM fungi increased plant biomass by 14-74% depending on the nutrient conditions”
t0“poplar”
Claim · model-written summary
AM and EM associations had minimal effects on secondary cell wall composition.
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“but had minimal effects on SCW composition”
t0“poplar”
Claim · model-written summary
Mycorrhizal plants allocated a greater portion of biomass to roots, particularly with EM fungi.
- Organ / stage
- rootse0
- Treatment
- inoculated with EM fungie0
- Interactor
- EM fungie0symbiont
- Outcome
- portion of their biomass to rootse0
- Direction
- greatere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Mycorrhizal plants, especially those inoculated with EM fungi, also allocated a greater portion of their biomass to roots”
t0“poplar”
Claim · model-written summary
Leaf nutrient content was weakly positively correlated with wood production in mycorrhizal plants.
- Organ / stage
- Leafe0
- Compound
- nutriente0
- Outcome
- wood productione0
- Direction
- positively correlatede0
- Qualifier
- weaklye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Leaf nutrient content was weakly but positively correlated with wood production in mycorrhizal plants”
t0“poplar”
Claim · model-written summary
Phosphorus played a larger role in EM plants than in AM plants.
- Interactor
- EMe0symbiont
- Compound
- phosphoruse0
- Outcome
- larger rolee0
- Direction
- largere0
- Comparator
- AM plantse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“phosphorus played a larger role in EM plants compared with AM plants”
t0“poplar”
Claim · model-written summary
Relative nitrogen and phosphorus availability correlated with shifts in secondary cell wall composition.
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Relative nitrogen and phosphorus availability were correlated with shifts in SCW composition”
t0“poplar”
Claim · model-written summary
AM associations increased lignin content, potentially offsetting the benefit of greater wood biomass.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“For AM associations, the benefit of increased wood biomass may be partially offset by increased lignin content”
t0“poplar”
The same questions in other papers
mycorrhiza · molecular: metabolites · Populus (poplar)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- positive
- negative
- no effect
mycorrhiza · growth · Populus (poplar)Results agree
12 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
9 papers more in this group
See all 13 papers →inoculation · growth · Populus (poplar)Results agree
20 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
17 papers more in this group
See all 21 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.