Project Details
Projekt
Plant-microbe strategies for utilization of mineral-associated P sources
Applicants
Professor Dr. Bruno Glaser; Professor Dr. Georg Guggenberger; Professor Dr. Robert Mikutta
Subject Area
Soil Sciences
Term
from 2013 to 2022
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 240950800
Depleted resources in easy accessible apatite as well as the sorption of inorganic and organic phosphorus (P) to secondary minerals are the main proposed aspects for P limitation of old weathered forest ecosystems. In spite of that indications exist that sorption of P is not irreversible and that life communities are capable to recycle mineral-associated P. But the underlying processes and controlling factors are still poorly known. In this project we will test the hypothesis that particularly in P-limited ecosystems plant-microbe communities can utilize mineral-bound P. We assume that a higher P use efficiency from secondary minerals, especially of sorbed orthophosphate in comparison to P monoesters, is due to an enhanced investment of photosynthates into weathering-active mycorrhiza and bacteria, with such a strategy being realized for both ectomycorrhized plants as well as for plants living in symbiosis with arbuscular fungi. Therefore, mesocosm experiments with soils varying in P supply and amended with additional P sources, i.e. ferrihydrite with adsorbed orthophosphate and P-monoesters, will be run under Fagus sylvatica (ectomycorrhiza) und Acer pseudoplatanus (arbuscular mycorrhiza). 13CO2 isotope labeling and substance-specific 13C analysis in phospholipid fatty acids and low-molecular weight organic acids as well as enzyme activity measurements will inform about the investment of plants into microbial communites as well as weathering agents as a function of soil P availability and P types present. Further, 18O-labeling of phosphate in combination with NanoSIMS application will be used to directly reveal the utilization of mineral-bound P. In a field exposure experiment, P adsorption complexes will be buried and incubated for one year to verify the mesocosms results. Phosphorus losses will be assessed by X-ray fluorescence and photoelectron spectroscopy and the involved microbial communities will be described based on quantitative real-time PCR and 454 pyrosequencing. The obtained data will clarify whether the recycling of P from secondary minerals is a relevant process and which strategies of life are realized.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
Co-Investigators
Dr. Jens Boy; Dr. Klaus Kaiser
