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S ummary The interaction between light intensity and soil temperature with phosphorus inhibition of vesicular‐arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) formation in sudangrass ( Sorghum vulgare , Pers.) was investigated in P‐deficient (0.5 mg P kg −1 ) sandy soil amended with 0 (OP), 15 (15P) and 30 (30P) mg P kg −1 soil as superphosphate. For seedlings inoculated with Glomus fasciculatus and grown at 100, 75, and 50% of glasshouse light intensity, the reduction in VAM formation by added soil P (15 P and 30P) was greatest at the lower light levels, whereas in the OP treatment, VAM formation was unaffected by a decrease in light intensity. Increases in root P concentration resulted from both soil P amendment and, in the 15P treatment, from a decrease in light intensity, and were associated with decreases in root membrane permeability and corresponding decreases in root exudation of amino acids and sugars. The reduction in sugar exudation in the 15P treatment at lower light intensity was paralleled by a decrease in root extract levels of sugars, but decreases in amino acid exudation could not be explained by changes in amino acid levels in root extracts. These results suggest that P inhibition of VAM formation is more severe at lower light intensities because of a decrease in membrane‐mediated exudation, although a reduction in sugar levels in root cells may also contribute to the observed decrease in exudation. When inoculated seedlings were grown at 25, 30, and 35°C soil temperatures, the reduction in VAM formation in the 15P and 30P treatments was overcome by increase in soil temperature. The increase in VAM formation by increased temperature in the 15P plants was associated with significant increases in root membrane permeability and exudation without a corresponding change in root P concentration. In the OP treatment, an increase in soil temperature increased VAM formation with little effect on root exudation, which suggested an effect of temperature on Glomus fasciculatus . Higher soil temperature may increase VAM formation through either a direct effect of temperature on the fungus or an indirect effect via an increase in leakage of root metabolites necessary for fungal activity, or both.
Graham et al. (Sun,) studied this question.