Effects of various herbicides on growth of ectotropic mycorrhizal fungi were determined over a 3-week period on modified Melin-Norcrans agar amended with the herbicides at rates of 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, 40, 80, 100, and 500 μg active ingredients/ml. Considerable variation in effect was observed among the herbicides for certain fungi and among the fungi for certain herbicides. All of the test fungi grew in the presence of each of the test herbicides at a rate of 80 μg/ml, and some growth was observed at the 500 μdg/ml rate in a majority of the herbicide-fungus combinations. Significant decreases (P = 0.05) in growth were observed for specific herbicide-fungus combinations at herbicide rates of 1 and 3 μg/ml; however, 50% or greater decreases in fungal colony areas were observed in only 12 of 112 of the combinations at such low rates. The herbicides, in decreasing order of activity against the fungi, were: diphenylethers > dinitroanilines > s-triazines > substituted amides > perfluidone [1,1,1-trifluoro-N-[2-methyl-4-(phenylsulfonyl)phenyl] methanesulfonamide]. With few exceptions, the herbicide concentrations necessary to affect fungal growth significantly were considerably higher than would be expected to occur in soil treated with the test herbicides at recommended application rates.

Short-term phosphate uptake rates were measured on intact ectomycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal Pinus sylvestris seedlings using a new, non-destructive method. Uptake was quantified in semihydroponics from the depletion of Pi in a nutrient solution percolating through plant containers. Plants were grown for 1 or 2 months after inoculation at a low relative nutrient addition rate of 3% d−1 and under P limitation. Four ectomycorrhizal fungi were studied: Paxillus involutus, Suillus luteus, Suillus bovinus and Thelephora terrestris. The Pi-uptake capacity of mycorrhizal plants increased sharply in the month after inoculation. The increase was dependent on the development of the mycobionts. A positive correlation was found between the Pi-uptake rates of the seedlings and the active fungal biomass in the substrate as measured by the ergosterol assay. The highest Pi-uptake rates were found in seedlings associated with fungi producing abundant external mycelia. At an external Pi concentration of 10 μM, mycorrhizal seedlings reached uptake rates that were 2.5 (T. terrestris) to 8.7 (P. involutus) times higher than those of non-mycorrhizal plants. The increased uptake rates did not result in an increased transfer of nutrients to the plant tissues. Nutrient depletion was ultimately similar between mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants in the semihydroponic system. Net Pi absorption followed Michaelis–Menten kinetics: uptake rates declined with decreasing Pi concentrations in the nutrient solution. This reduction was most pronounced in non- mycorrhizal seedlings and plants colonized by T. terrestris. The results confirm that there is considerable heterogeneity in affinity for Pi uptake among the different mycobionts. It is concluded that the external mycelia of ectomycorrhizal fungi strongly influence the Pi-uptake capacity of the pine seedlings, and that some mycobionts are well equipped to compete with other soil microorganisms for Pi present at low concentrations in soil solution.