THE INVOLVEMENT OF MYCORRHIZAS IN ASSESSMENT OF GENETICALLY DEPENDENT EFFICIENCY OF NUTRIENT-UPTAKE AND USE

This article summarises the way in which mycorrhizal infection of roots affects the mineral nutrition of plants and how the symbiosis may interact with the evaluation of efficiency of nutrient uptake and use by plants. A brief account of the processes of infection and the way they are affected by host genotype and environmental conditions is given and the relationships between this and mineral nutrition (especially phosphate nutrition) are outlined. The interactions between mycorrhizal infection and P efficiency are considered at two levels. Mycorrhizas may act as general modifiers of efficiency regardless of the extent to which the plants are infected and in some mycorrhiza-dependent plants infection may change the ranking of genotypes. The extent of infection is also under genetic control and shows considerable variability between genotypes in some species. This variation could be used in programs to select varieties in which infection is rapid and nutrient uptake from nutrient deficient or low input systems is, in consequence, increased.