Wheat varietal diversity affects arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and soil enzymatic activities in the root zone

Abstract High-input agriculture has been associated with a drastic reduction of within-field crop genetic diversity, while plant (mostly functional) diversity in natural ecosystems has been shown to promote ecosystem functioning. Increasing intra-specific diversity in agroecosystems is a promising strategy to stabilize crop productivity and promote the associated diversity of fauna and microbiota. We investigated the effect of the within-field diversity of bread wheat varieties on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and two enzymatic activities involved in organic nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization. A field experiment was designed to test whether the number of mixed wheat varieties in a plot, or their functional diversity (previously assessed), influence the abundance and diversity of AMF and the activity of leucine aminopeptidases and phosphatases in the root zone. The AMF abundance was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, community composition was analyzed by Illumina metabarcoding on two AMF specific markers, and potential microbial activities were quantified by biochemical assays. Wheat traits related to root morphology and susceptibility to fungal diseases previously quantified for each variety were also used. Number of varieties significantly increased AMF abundance in roots, whereas functional cluster number did not, with no impact of root morphology. Functional cluster number influenced AMF diversity, though weakly and not linearly, responding most to binary mixtures. Both wheat variety and functional group number increased the potential leucine amino-peptidase activities in the root zone, while no effect was observed for phosphatase activities. Our results highlight that increasing crop intra-specific diversity triggered changes in key processes involved in nutrient acquisition.