Rates and quantities of carbon flux to ectomycorrhizal mycelium following C-14 pulse labeling of Pinus sylvestris seedlings: effects of litter patches and interaction with a wood-decomposer fungus

摘要

We used a novel digital autoradiographic technique that enabled, for the first time, simultaneous visualization and quantification of spatial and temporal changes in carbon allocation patterns in ectomycorrhizal mycelia. Mycorrhizal plants of Pinus sylvestris L. were grown in microcosms containing non-sterile peat. The time course and spatial distribution of carbon allocation by Fl sylvestris to mycelia of its mycorrhizal partners, Paxillus involutus (Batsch) Fr. and Suillus bovinus (L.): Kuntze, were quantified following C-14 pulse labeling of the plants. Litter patches were used to investigate the effects of nutrient resource quality on carbon allocation. The wood-decomposer fungus Phanerochaete velutina (D.C.: Pers.) Parmasto was introduced to evaluate competitive and territorial interactions between its mycelial cords and the mycelial system of S. bovinus.