Fig. 7: The route of leaf-assimilated carbon and nitrogen to ectomycorrhizas formed with different fungal taxa.
From: Mycorrhizal C/N ratio determines plant-derived carbon and nitrogen allocation to symbiosis
The leaf-assimilated carbon (green solid line), nitrogen (pink solid line), ectomycorrhizas formed with different fungal taxa (blue cases). Numbers indicate the compartments where carbon (13C) and nitrogen (15N) isotope labels applied on the leaf were transported 20 days after labeling application. The left inset represents a cross-section of ectomycorrhiza, illustrating the presence of 13C and 15N in both plant and fungal structures. The enrichments with 13C in the symbiosis decrease with increasing C/N ratio of ectomycorrhizas. A higher fungal nitrogen immobilization from soil (Nmin) may lower the ectomycorrhizal C/N ratio, triggering a higher plant carbon flux to the symbiont. Created with BioRender.com.
