Applying root exudates more strongly increased AM fungal colonization of target plants and AM fungal spore germination when exudate donors were from introduced populations.
We found that plants from introduced populations had higher concentrations of quercetin in root exudates, greater AM fungal colonization and higher biomass. We examined flavonoids (quercetin and quercitrin) in root exudates of native and introduced populations of the invasive plant Triadica sebifera and tested their effects on AM fungi and plant performance. Here we test the hypothesis that variation in root exudate chemicals in invasive populations affects AM fungal colonization and then impacts plant performance.
Many invasive plants have enhanced mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal associations, however, mechanisms underlying differences in AM fungal associations between introduced and native populations of invasive plants have not been explored.
