What have we learned from our studies of endophyte, rhizobia and mycorrhizal fungi coexistence? The friends of my enemy can be my friend too

OMACINI MARINA; GARCÍA-PARISI PABLO; MINÁS ALEXIA

Salamanca

Simposio; 10th International Symposium on Fungal Endophytes of Grasses; 2018

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are common root symbionts that play a key role in grasslands and pastures as they regulate nutrient and carbon cycles and influence ecosystem production and multifunctionality. Despite the increasing awareness that grass-endophyte symbiosis may affect whole neighborhoods, little is known about its impacts on interactions between non-endophytic plants and their symbionts. Here, we summarize recent findings on the significance of a safe grass-endophyte symbiosis for the functional capacity of rhizobia and AMF which can form symbioses with both the host grass and a forage legume. We present examples of how grass-endophyte symbiosis modifies belowground conditions and, in turn, influences soil symbiotic potential, legume performance and nitrogen acquisition by the host grass. In our experiments, we used Lolium multiflorum seeds from a naturalized Pampean population with high or low infection level with E. occultans (E+>95% and E−