Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi influence the intraspecific competitive ability of plants under field and glasshouse conditions

MAIN CONCLUSION: Nicotiana attenuata’s capacity to interact with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi influences its intraspecific competitive ability under field and glasshouse conditions, but not its overall community productivity. ABSTRACT: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can alter the nutrient status and growth of plants, and they can also affect plant–plant, plant–herbivore, and plant–pathogen interactions. These AM effects are rarely studied in populations under natural conditions due to the limitation of non-mycorrhizal controls. Here we used a genetic approach, establishing field and glasshouse communities of AM-harboring Nicotiana attenuata empty vector (EV) plants and isogenic plants silenced in calcium- and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase expression (irCCaMK), and unable to establish AM symbioses. Performance and growth were quantified in communities of the same (monocultures) or different genotypes (mixed cultures) and both field and glasshouse experiments returned similar responses. In mixed cultures, AM-harboring EV plants attained greater stalk lengths, shoot and root biomasses, clearly out-competing the AM fungal-deficient irCCaMK plants, while in monocultures, both genotypes grew similarly. Competitive ability was also reflected in reproductive traits: EV plants in mixed cultures outperformed irCCaMK plants. When grown in monocultures, the two genotypes did not differ in reproductive performance, though total leaf N and P contents were significantly lower independent of the community type. Plant productivity in terms of growth and seed production at the community level did not differ, while leaf nutrient content of phosphorus and nitrogen depended on the community type. We infer that AM symbioses drastically increase N. attenuata’s competitive ability in mixed communities resulting in increased fitness for the individuals harboring AM without a net gain for the community. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00425-023-04214-z.