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Poster

Session: Session 1 Presenting Authors at Posters (Odds)

P-419 - Maize zinc uptake is influenced by arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis under various soil phosphorus availabilities

Monday, July 14, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Symbiosis and Mutualism (mycorrhiza and N-fixing Rhizobia)

    Presenting Author(s)

  • BY

    Baogang Yu

    Plant Genetics, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Germany
    Freising, Bayern, Germany

    • Author(s)

  • MB

    Marcel Bucher

    Institute for Plant Sciences, Cologne Biocenter, University of Cologne
    Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

  • GS

    Gabriel Schaaf

    Professor
    INRES - Plant Nutrition, University of Bonn
    Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

  • FH

    Frank Hochholdinger

    Crop Functional Genomics, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, University of Bonn
    Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

  • CZ

    Chunqin Zou

    Laboratory of Nutrient Use and Management, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University
    Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)

  • PY

    Peng Yu

    Prof.
    1Universität Bonn INRES - Root Functional Biology 3 TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Germany
    Freising, Bayern, Germany

The antagonistic interplay between phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) in plants is well established. However, the molecular mechanisms mediating those interactions as influenced by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis remain unclear. We investigated Zn concentrations, root AM symbiosis, and transcriptome profiles of maize roots grown under field conditions upon different P levels. We also validated genotype-dependent P–Zn uptake in selected genotypes from a MAGIC population and conducted mycorrhizal inoculation experiments using mycorrhizal-defective mutant pht1;6 to elucidate the significance of AM symbiosis in P–Zn antagonism. Finally, we assessed how P supply affects Zn transporters and Zn uptake in extraradical hyphae within a three-compartment system. Elevated P levels led to a significant reduction in maize Zn concentration across the population, correlating with a marked decline in AM symbiosis, thus elucidating the P–Zn antagonism. We also identified ZmPht1;6 is crucial for AM symbiosis and confirmed that P–Zn antagonistic uptake is dependent on AM symbiosis. Moreover, we found that high P suppressed the expression of the fungal RiZRT1 and RiZnT1 genes, potentially impacting hyphal Zn uptake. We conclude that high P exerts systemic regulation over root and AM hyphae-mediated Zn uptake in maize. These findings hold implications for breeding Zn deficiency-tolerant maize varieties.