Isabel Brito

Universidade de Évora | uevora · Department of Biology

In cropping systems, the choices adopted for the tillage system used and plants cultivated can strongly influence the soil microbial population and its functional profile. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are an important component of soil microbiome and their mutualistic symbiosis with the majority of higher plants grant the latter a wide range...

In the current agronomic context, the adoption of alternative forms of soil management is essential to increase crop yield. Agricultural sustainability requires practices that generate positive impacts and promote an increase in microbiome diversity as a tool to overcome adverse environmental conditions. An important ally is the indigenous arbuscul...

Soil acidity can reduce crop growth by increasing bioavailable soil Al, Fe, and/or Mn to toxic levels. The presence of an intact extraradical mycelium (ERM) of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), developed by the native Ornithopus compressus in the acidic soil, can increase wheat growth and prevent symptoms of Mn toxicity. To understand the protect...

Soil acidity is a strong promoter of the bioavailability of Al, Fe, and Mn, whose concentrations can sometimes reach toxic levels for plants. In agricultural soils, the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) has shown a protective influence on wheat growth under Mn toxicity. The intact extraradical mycelium (ERM) promotes faster AMF colonization...

Manganese (Mn) and aluminum (Al) toxicities are serious edaphic limitations to crop production in acidic soils. Excess Mn can be countered using a stress-adapted soil microbiota that establish symbiotic relationships with native plants. The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) associated with Lolium rigidum L. develop extraradical mycelia (ERM) that...

Sustainable agricultural practices based on the development of native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can improve crop growth and stress tolerance in acidic soils with manganese toxicity. The beneficial effects are stronger when crops are colonized early in development by an intact extraradical mycelium (ERM), but are dependent on AMF assemblage...

Acidic soils can promote the bioavailability of Al, Mn, and Fe to toxic levels, reducing crop growth and productivity. Symptoms of metal excess/deficit are dependent on the chemical composition of the soil solution and of plant tissues. In the present study, the concentration and subcellular distribution of Al, Mn, Fe, and Si (known to alleviate me...

The need to increase food production with reduced use of resources and environmental impact demands innovative rethinking and evolution of cropping systems. The essential changes required are consistent with sustaining arbuscular mycorrhiza, which, together with their associated microorganisms, could be managed to play an important role, especially...

In acidic soils with manganese (Mn) toxicity, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can improve plant host growth by enhancing nutrition and protecting against environmental stress. The intact extraradical mycelium (ERM) of AMF is able to survive Mediterranean summer conditions and provide an earlier colonization of winter crops. This study evaluated...

Crop growth in acidic soils is limited by toxicity of Al and/or Mn and deficiency of phosphorus (P). Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) improve host water and nutrient acquisition, particularly P. When colonization is initiated from an intact extraradical mycelium (ERM), shoot P levels increase, depending on the plant species associated with ERM de...

In the Montado system, in Portuguese Alentejo region, some Eutric Cambisols are known to promote manganese (Mn) toxicity in wheat. Variation on bioavailable Mn concentration depends on soil acidity, which can be increased by natural events (e.g. waterlogging) or human activity (e.g. excess use of chemical fertilizers). The effect of increasing soil...

The sustainability of agriculture requires the adoption of agricultural soil conservation practices with positive impacts on soil quality, which can promote beneficial soil microbiota like arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and its diversity. This study aims to assess the influence of the presence of intact extraradical mycelium as a preferential s...

Soil acidity is one of the most serious edaphic problems affecting agricultural systems worldwide, since it leads to increased bioavailability of H+, aluminum, iron and manganese, causing toxicity in plants and a decrease in crop yields1. In Alentejo region, in the south-east of Portugal, soils occupied by the main agro-forestry-pastoral system - t...

Fusarium spp. and Magnaporthiopsis maydis are soil-inhabiting fungi and respectively the causal agents of fusarium ear rot and late wilt, two important diseases that can affect maize, one of the most important cereal crops worldwide. Here, we present two sensitive real-time PCR TaqMan MGB (Minor Groove Binder) assays that detect and discriminate se...

Intentional use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in cropping systems has been marginal, owing to the high cost and limited biodiversity of commercial inocula, together with the timeliness of colonization to achieve benefits. Additionally, mycorrhiza are considered incompatible with high input cropping systems. Combining results from 4 differen...

Soils occupied by the Montado system are acid and susceptible to winter waterlogging, promoting soil Mn bioavailability and its plant toxicity, that impairs crop yields. Plant Mg/Mn ratios >20 and increased plant antioxidant enzyme activity may reduce Mn toxicity. The aims of this work are the evaluation of a) the bioavailability of soil Mg and Mn,...

A produção no sistema do Montado alentejano é fortemente influenciada pela acidez do solo, através do aumento na biodisponibilidade de Al, Fe e Mn e subsequente toxicidade vegetal. Períodos de chuva intensa incrementam a libertação de Fe e Mn na solução do solo aumentando a sua biodisponibilidade. O uso de cal dolomítica, uma prática agrícola comum...

Despite the fact that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are the most abundant symbionts in terrestrial ecosystems, only about 240 species have been described, based on the morphological features of their spores. Modern molecular techniques have identified many more taxonomic groups, indicating that the overall AMF diversity has been significantly...

To exploit the opportunities offered by our increased understanding of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) diversity and the potential to manage it requires greater knowledge of the indigenous AM fungi (AMF) involved in the symbiosis with target plants. Our ability to fully describe AMF diversity is still at early stage in terms of the taxonomic units prese...

Food production has to be greatly increased simply to feed a population growing from 7 billion to in excess of 9 billion over the next 35 years and we still have more than a billion undernourished people. To increase global food production is an unprecedented challenge in the history of agriculture, particularly if we consider that the solutions ad...

There is a considerable evidence of both cooperation and synergism between groups of organisms concentrated around mycorrhiza rather than the rhizosphere of plants being inhabited by a very diverse population of competing organisms. A huge increase has taken place in the detailed understanding of the microbial environment surrounding plant root sys...

Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) is the oldest and most widespread mutualistic symbiosis known. Colonization of host plants with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) provides a wide range of benefits to the host. The most obvious advantage is the ability to explore a larger volume of soil, by means of the extraradical mycelium (ERM), than plant roots alone...

Early root colonization is crucial if the potential benefits from arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) are to be optimized, especially when protection against biotic or abiotic stresses is involved, so that the AM is well-established as the host plant encounters the stress. Of the different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) propagules capable of infecting r...

The potential benefits of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are crucial aspects for the sustainable intensification of agriculture. However, in industrialized regions injudicious use of both manure and excessive application of fertilizers and pesticides are imposing unacceptable environmental impacts and in regions where there is already an urgent...

There is a great functional diversity within and between different species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in terms of the benefits they may confer to host plants, such as the acquisition of nutrients or protection from biotic and abiotic stresses. It is critical to understand how the various practices available for use within production syst...

Background The acidic properties of Alentejo soils in Portugal increase manganese (Mn) bioavailability, inducing plant toxicity and limiting crop production. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligatory symbiotic soil microbiota known to improve plant tolerance to heavy metal stress. In our study the protective effect of native AMF on wheat gr...

As functional diversity influences the benefits conferred on host plants by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and large scale commercial inoculation is currently impracticable, strategies are required to manage communities of indigenous AMF associated with different hosts within agricultural cropping systems. In a non-sterilized soil, using 454 py...

Despite the fact that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are the most abundant symbionts in terrestrial ecosystems, only about 240 species have been described, based on the morphological features of their spores. Modern molecular techniques have identified many more taxonomic groups, indicating that the overall AMF diversity has been significantly...

Functional Diversity of Mycorrhiza and Sustainable Agriculture is the first book to present the core concepts of working with Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to improve agricultural crop productivity. Highlighting the use of indigenous AM fungi for agriculture, the book includes details on how to maintain and promote AM fungal diversity to improve sus...

There is a considerable evidence of both cooperation and synergism between groups of organisms concentrated around mycorrhiza rather than the rhizosphere of plants being inhabited by a very diverse population of competing organisms. A huge increase has taken place in the detailed understanding of the microbial environment surrounding plant root sys...

The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used t...

The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used t...

A dataset of 3,250,404 measurements, collated from 26,114 sampling locations in 94 countries and representing 47,044 species. The data were collated from 480 existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database was assemb...

To capitalize on the benefits offered by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in agricultural systems, the effect of low soil temperature has to be taken into consideration over large areas of the planet. However, the effect of suboptimal root-zone temperatures on AMF colonization is poorly understood. It has been suggested that it depends on the hos...

The role of intact extraradical mycelium (ERM) as the most effective fungal propagule in the formation of the tripartite symbiosis between indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), rhizobia and subterranean clover was investigated under conditions of Mn toxicity. ERM was previously developed in 8 L pots under greenhouse conditions by growing p...

Data S1. Data extract.

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeograph...

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeograph...

We investigated whether an intact extraradical mycelium (ERM) is more effective than other forms of propagule from indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in providing protection against stress to a host plant. The response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to Mn toxicity was studied in a two-phase greenhouse experiment. In Phase 1, four Mn tol...

Tillage and weed control are critical components of cropping systems that need to be combined such that crops benefit from reduced competition. However, weeds may also contribute to the biological diversity within the agro-environment. This greenhouse study investigated whether common weeds of arable cropping systems were suitable host plants for a...

Large‐scale inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is generally impractical in most regions and we have little understanding of the factors that determine inoculation success. Nevertheless, the ability to take full advantage of indigenous AMF for sustainable production needs to be developed within cropping systems. We used part of a lo...

A more diverse arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungal community should be more versatile and resilient to variation in environmental conditions over space and time. To evaluate the effect of no-till and conventional tillage systems, AM fungal diversity was assessed as part of a long term field experiment by sequencing of DNA, extracted from soil, that e...

The potential to manage arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization within Mediterranean agricultural systems depends on the summer survival of extraradical mycelium. To investigate this further a three-stage experiment was undertaken. The first stage was the creation of two contrasting levels of extraradical mycelium development, achieved by two contrasti...

Key aspects of cropping systems are described in terms of their impacts on soil, water and air resources. The importance of microbial symbiotic relations with crop plants are briefly considered in the context of nutrient resource use efficiency and the resilience of plants to biotic and abiotic stress. It is argued that cropping systems need to inc...

Given the ubiquous presence of AM fungi, a major constraint to the evaluation of the activity of AM colonization has been the need to account for the indigenous soil native inoculum. This has to be controlled (i.e., reduced or eliminated) if we are to obtain a true control treatment for analysis of arbuscular mycorrhizas in natural substrates. Ther...

Many benefits that accrue to plants from their association with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are a function of the increased volume of soil that can be explored by the extraradical mycelium. Sieverding (1991) estimates that for each centimeter of colonized root there is an increase of 15 cm3 on the volume of soil explored, this value can incre...

Soil tillage may markedly reduce the rate of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) establishment by breaking up the living AM fungal mycelium in the soil. In no till or reduced till management, this mycelium can allow earlier AM formation. Work under field conditions in a Mediterranean climate clearly confirmed that wheat plants cultivated under no-till syste...