naa a22 4500 528786938 20180924065502.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180924e20111202xx s 000 0 eng 10.3929/ethz-b-000040568 doi 10.1371/journal.pone.0027825 doi (ETHRESEARCH)oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/40568 Can Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Reduce the Growth of Agricultural Weeds? [Elektronische Daten] [Rita S.L. Veiga, Jan Jansa, Emmanuel Frossard, Marcel G.A. van der Heijden] PLoS ONE Open access ethresearch Background Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known for their beneficial effects on plants. However, there is increasing evidence that some ruderal plants, including several agricultural weeds, respond negatively to AMF colonization. Here, we investigated the effect of AMF on the growth of individual weed species and on weed-crop interactions. Methodology/Principal Findings First, under controlled glasshouse conditions, we screened growth responses of nine weed species and three crops to a widespread AMF, Glomus intraradices. None of the weeds screened showed a significant positive mycorrhizal growth response and four weed species were significantly reduced by the AMF (growth responses between −22 and −35%). In a subsequent experiment, we selected three of the negatively responding weed species - Echinochloa crus-galli, Setaria viridis and Solanum nigrum - and analyzed their responses to a combination of three AMF (Glomus intraradices, Glomus mosseae and Glomus claroideum). Finally, we tested whether the presence of a crop (maize) enhanced the suppressive effect of AMF on weeds. We found that the growth of the three selected weed species was also reduced by a combination of AMF and that the presence of maize amplified the negative effect of AMF on the growth of E. crus-galli. Conclusions/Significance Our results show that AMF can negatively influence the growth of some weed species indicating that AMF have the potential to act as determinants of weed community structure. Furthermore, mycorrhizal weed growth reductions can be amplified in the presence of a crop. Previous studies have shown that AMF provide a number of beneficial ecosystem services. Taken together with our current results, the maintenance and promotion of AMF activity may thereby contribute to sustainable management of agroecosystems. However, in order to further the practical and ecological relevance of our findings, additional experiments should be performed under field conditions. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 ethresearch Veiga Rita S.L. joint author Jansa Jan joint author Frossard Emmanuel joint author van der Heijden Marcel G.A. joint author PLoS ONE Lawrence, KS, USA : Public Library of Science 6 (12), p. e27825 1932-6203 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/40568 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) 1 Journal Article ethresearch ETHRESEARCH 856 40 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/40568 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Veiga Rita S.L. joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Jansa Jan joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Frossard Emmanuel joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- van der Heijden Marcel G.A. joint author ETHRESEARCH 773 0- PLoS ONE Lawrence, KS, USA : Public Library of Science 6 (12), p. e27825 1932-6203 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH Journal Article Open access