Impact of nursery soil management on the establishment of mycorrhizal symbiosis

Abstract

Most vineyards use European grapevine varieties (Vitis vinifera. L) grafted onto American rootstocks, as these are more resistant to phylloxera. Since then, the nursery sector started to develop and, currently, it is estimated that nurseries produce between 800 million and 1.2 billion vines each year (Villa-Llop et al., 2025). Roots of grafted plants develop in nurseries where herbicides are usually applied, affecting soil microbial communities and their interactions with grapevines. Among soil microorganisms, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which establish a symbiosis with their roots, play a key role in plant resilience and replanting success. First contact between AMF and grapevine roots occurs in nurseries, however little is still known about the establishment of mycorrhizal symbiosis in those conditions (Velaz et al., 2025). Historically, AMF have been considered generalists; however, research demonstrated that symbiosis establishment and effectiveness is responsive to involved AMF species and scion/rootstock identity, as well as, to soil managements (reviewed by Velaz et al., 2025). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of rootstock identity and soil management on AMF symbiosis establishment and plant development. The study was carried out with 110 Richter (110 R, Vitis berlandieri × Vitis rupestris) and 41B MGt (41B, Vitis vinifera x Vitis berlandieri) rootstocks under two different soil management (conventional with herbicides vs. ecological) in a commercial nursery belonging to Vitis Navarra (Larraga, Spain).

Vegetative growth of grafted plants was measured once a month after their establishment. The root growth, measured as total root number, section, and mass, was affected by both rootstock and soil management.110R was the rootstock with the greatest growth. Initially, the conventional treatment showed higher values, but by the end, the ecological treatments had the highest ones. On the other hand, aerial growth measured as total shoot growth and mass, was hardly affected by these factors. Regarding mycorrhizal colonization rate, measured under the microscopy, rootstock identity had more effect than soil management, at least during the first months. In fact, 110 R rootstock appeared to be colonized earlier than 41B although, over time, the latter showed a higher mycorrhizal colonization rate. The impact of soil management seemed to be modulated by rootstock identity.

Altogether, our preliminary results highlight that the establishment of mycorrhizal symbiosis in nurseries is influenced by both rootstock identity and soil management. These findings are promising for the implementation of sustainable practices in grapevine nursery production.

References

Text Villa-Llop, A., Crespo-Martínez, S., Torres, N., Cookson, S.J, Loupit, G., Bonhomme, P-O, Prodhomme, D., Gramaje, D., Bujanda, R., Eraso, J & Santesteban L.G. (2025). Evaluation of the influence of rootstock cane characteristics on grafting success rate. OenoOne, 59(1), 8305. https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2025.59.1.8305

Velaz, M, Santesteban, LG, & Torres, N. (2025). Mycorrhizae and grapevines: the known unknowns of their interaction for wine growers’ challenges, Journal of Experimental Botany 76(11), 3001–3015. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf081

Acknowledgements

This work was conducted within the frame of MYKOVINE project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (REF PID2023-151788OA-I00). N. Torres is beneficiary of a Ramón y Cajal Grant RYC2021-034586-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”. M. Velaz and Mónica Galar-Martínez are beneficiaries of pre-doctoral fellowships from the Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA). A. Villa-Llop is the beneficiary of an Industrial predoctoral contract of the Government of Navarra (Ref. 283E/2020). Special thanks to Rafael García and Javier Eraso from Vitis Navarra nursery for their assistance during measurements and maintenance of the experimental setup.