Testing the efficacy of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculants on grapevine establishment
department or school: Arts and Sciences, Irving K. Barber School of (Okanagan)
department or school: Biology, Department of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Holland, Taylor Craig
issued: 2019-07-18T15:25:42Z
issued: 2019
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are often incorporated into growing systems in hopes of increasing nutrient uptake and alleviating stress for plants in exchange for photosynthetic carbon. However, the benefits provided by AM fungi are inconsistent and it is important we understand the factors surrounding this symbiosis to determine when their addition may be beneficial and economical for agricultural production systems. I used three greenhouse experiments and one field study to answer questions revolving around the timing of inoculation, the provenance of AM fungi used, and plant stresses. AM fungi did not consistently benefit plants, but some advantages were found. Overall, AM fungi were shown to be variable in their effect on vine growth. In a greenhouse study, a natural AM fungal community provided physiological benefits to hosts when compared to a commercial AM inoculant. In contrast, adding commercial AM fungi to grapevines prior to field transplant increased the survival of vines when entering stressful soil conditions. When testing the ability of AM fungi to protect young vines against a weak pathogen no benefits were observed, but instead AM fungi increased pathogen levels in hosts, though without any symptoms. Lastly, I tested how pruning of roots at the time of transplant may affect the symbiosis, finding that the symbiosis persisted likely due to the abundance of propagules in older, untrimmed roots. Thus, growers can pre-inoculate vines without compromising the symbiosis during planting. The range of results displayed in this thesis confirm how inconsistent AM fungal additions can be. Nevertheless, AM fungal inoculants may have a place in viticulture practices. In particular, they may be useful prior to transplanting into the field. In general, AM fungi should be tested on a site-basis prior to large scale applications
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/71047
note: TESTING THE EFFICACY OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL INOCULANTS ON GRAPEVINE ESTABLISHEMENT by Taylor Craig Holland M.Sc., University of British Columbia, 2013 B.Sc., Simon Fraser University, 2010 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Biology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) July 2019 © Taylor Craig Holland, 2019 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: TESTING THE EFFICACY OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL INOCULANTS ON VINE ESTABLISHEMENT Submitted by Taylor Craig Holland in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology. Dr. Miranda Hart, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Supervisor Dr. Pat Bowen, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland BC Supervisor Dr. Jose Urbez-Torres, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland BC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Andrew Walker, Faculty of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis California Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Craig Nichol, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences University Examiner Dr. Deborah Henderson, Institute for Sustainable Horticulture, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Langley BC External Examiner iii Abstract Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are often incorporated into growing systems in hopes of increasing nutrient uptake and alleviating stress for plants in exchange for photosynthetic carbon. However, the benefits provided by AM fungi are inconsistent and it is important we understand the factors surrounding this symbiosis to determine when their addition may be beneficial and economical for agricultural production systems. I used three greenhouse experiments and one field study to answer questions revolving around the timing of inoculation, the provenance of AM fungi used, and plant stresses. AM fu…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2019-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0379916
language: eng
degree discipline: Biology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/71047