DOI: 10.5061/dryad.905qfttt3
title: Plant pests influence the movement of plant-fixed carbon and fungal-acquired nutrients through arbuscular mycorrhizal networks

description: Plants typically interact with multiple, co-occurring symbionts, including
 arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi which can form networks, connecting
 neighbouring plants. A characteristic aspect of the mycorrhizal symbiosis
 is the bi-directional exchange of nutrients between host plants and fungal
 partners. Concurrent interactions with competing organisms such as aphids
 or potato cyst nematodes (PCN) can disrupt the carbon-for-nutrient
 exchange between plants and AM fungi. However, the role of mycorrhizal
 networks in mediating these interactions remains unclear. Using isotope
 tracing in multi-plant experimental systems, we investigated the movement
 of plant photosynthates and fungal-acquired soil phosphorus through
 mycorrhizal networks and the interactive effects of PCN infection on this.
 We found evidence of preferential allocation of fungal-acquired phosphorus
 to plants that were not infected by PCN compared to infected neighbours.
 Contrary to previous findings using single plants, we did not detect a
 PCN-induced reduction in the amounts of plant carbon delivered to AM fungi
 in multi-plant systems. However, the mycorrhizal network(s) moved
 plant-fixed carbon away from PCN-infected host plants, regardless of the
 PCN infection status of the neighbouring plant host.  Our work
 highlights the responsiveness of mycorrhizal networks to interactions with
 below-ground organisms. It also strengthens the argument for a more
 mycocentric view of AM-plant symbioses. Experimental designs of increasing
 ecological complexity are needed for a more comprehensive understanding of
 the carbon-for-nutrient dynamics in AM fungi-plant networks. This will, in
 turn, elucidate the role of AM fungi in terrestrial carbon cycling and
 their function in agricultural systems.
description: This dataset has been collected and processed as per the
 Materials and Methods section of the accompanying manuscript.
description: # Plant pests influence the movement of plant-fixed carbon and
 fungal-acquired nutrients through arbuscular mycorrhizal networks
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qfttt3](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qfttt3) ## Description of the data and file structure | filename | column for main dependent variable | description | | :------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | photosyn.q.week.7.exp.1.2 | FvP/FmP (i.e., fv.fm); SPAD (i.e., spad) | This is the data set for the FvP/FmP and SPAD measurements conducted upon the week of harvest (i.e., week 7 of growth) as displayed in Fig. S7. | | AMF.root.colonisation.exp1.2 | percentage root colonisation (e.g., hyp.col.max) | This is the data set for the AMF root colonisation presented as total colonisation, arbuscules and vesicles as displayed in Fig. S5A, B, and C respectively. | | hyphal.counts.exp.1.2 | soil hyphal counts measurements (i.e., total.hyphae.m.gram.soil) | This is the data set for the percentage soil hyphal counts measurements as displayed in Fig. S5D. | | harvest.exp1.2 | plant growth related data (e.g., shoot.weight.dry.grams) | This is the data set for the shoot biomass, tuber number and tuber dry weight upon harvest as displayed in Fig. S6A, B and C respectively. | | pcn.reproduction.exp1 | reproductive capacity of the nematodes (i.e., cyst.per.gram.side) | This is the data set for the reproductive capacity of the nematodes as displayed in Fig. S4. | | p.shoots.fungal.16.18.exp1 | p.shoots.fungal.16.18 | This is the data set for the fungal-acquired 33P in the shoots as displayed in Fig. 2. | | total.p.shoots.exp1 | shoots (i.e., total.p.plant.ug.g) | This is the data set for the total phosphorus concentration in the shoots as displayed in Fig. S8. | | carbon.staticcore.and.fungal.per.gram.in.core.exp2 | total C provided by each 14C-labelled to the mycorrhizal network (i.e., ug.c.m.total.hyphae.gram.of.soil.container.whole); percetange of the fungal C that move from the side of the 14C-labelled plant to the other side (i.e., ug.c.static.core.m.total.hyphae.gram.of.soil.rate.movement.percentage) | This is the data set for the total amount provided by each 14C-labelled to the mycorrhizal network (Fig. 3 ) and the percetange of the fungal C that move from the side of the 14C-labelled plant to the other side (Fig. 4). | The columns for the main factors included are: * treatment: the PCN infection treatment of the plant ('PCN' = infection with PCN and 'NO' = no infection with PCN) * treatment.neighbour: the PCN infection treatment of the neigbouring plant ('PCN' = infection with PCN and 'NO' = no infection with PCN) Other columns across the dataset include: * experiment: when data are compiled from both experiments; '1' indicates the 33P tracing experimernt and '2' the 14C labelling experiment * set: the experimental block (also include in the models as a first factor) * code: a code name given to each plant * side: coding to distinguish between each of the two plants within each mesocoms * combi: a combination code for the PCN infection treatment across the mesocosm * core.side: whether the core where present on this side of the mesocom (i.e., Y or YES) or not (i.e., N or NO) in 33P-tracing experiment * container: a number given to each mesocosm * label: whether the compartment or plant on that side where labelled (i.e., Y or YES) or not (i.e., N or NO) * label.in: whether the 33P label was added to the static core (i.e., static) or the rotated core (i.e., rotated) in each mesocosm - label.plant: whether the plant labelled with 14C was infected with PCN (i.e., PCN) or not (i.e., NO) Specifically for the pcn.reproduction.exp1.csv dataset: * cyst.per.gram.side: PCN infection expressed as cysts counted per gram of soil sieved for each one of the two side of each mesocosm Specifically for the AMF.root.colonisation.exp1.2 dataset: * q.arb: the number of arbuscules counted * r.ves: the number of vesicles counted * s.arb.ves: the number of arbuscules and vesicles counted * t.hyp.con: the number of hyphae counted with were seen to be connected to a vesicle or arbusucle * u.hyp.uncon: the number of hyphae counted with were NOT seen to be connected to a vesicle or arbusucle * p.no: the number of interections were no fungal structure was observed * intersections: the number of intersections completed * arb.col: the estimated number of fungal colonisation based on the counts of arbuscules * ves.col: the estimated number of fungal colonisation based on the counts of arbuscules and vesicles * hyp.col.max: the maximum estimated number of fungal colonisation based on the counts of arbuscules, vesicles and hyphae Specifically for the hyphal.counts.exp1.2 dataset: * total.hyphae.m.gram.soil: the total lenght of hyphae measured as meters (m) per gram of soil  Specifically for the harvest.exp1.2 dataset: * tuber.no: the number of tubers counted * shoot.weight.dry.grams: the dry mass of the aboveground shoot of each plant measured in grams * tuber.weight.dry.grams: the dry mass of the tubers of each plant measured in grams Specifically for the total.p.shoots.exp1 dataset: * total.p.plant.ug.g: the concentration of total phosphorus (P) in the shoots of each plant expessed as micrograms (ug) per gram (g) of dry weight of shoot Specifically for the p.shoots.fungal.16.18.exp1 dataset: * pg.g.static.set.positive: the concentration of fungal-acquired 33-phosphorus (P) in the shoots of each plant expessed as picograms (pg) per gram (g) of dry weight of shoot Specifically for photosyn.q.week7.exp1.2: * Fv/Fm: measurements of chlorophyll fluoresence (FvP/FmP) conducted with the PhotosynQ at week 7 of growth * spad: measurements of chlorophyll content (SPAD) conducted with the PhotosynQ at week 7 of growth Specifically for carbon.staticore.and.fungal.per.gram.in.core.exp2: * ug.c.m.total.hyphae.gram.of.soil.container.whole: a measure of total plant-derived C detected in fungal hyphae across the whole container; this is expersed as microgram (ug) of C in the each meter of hyphae per gram of soil  * ug.c.static.core.m.total.hyphae.gram.of.soil.rate.movement.percentage: the percentage of the total plant-derived C (measured in microgram; ug) in the each meter of hyphae per gram of soil that moved from the side of the 14C-labelled plant to the side of the unlabelled plant The data have been pre-processed and analysed as explained in the Materials and Methods section of the accompanying manuscript. ## Code/Software R script code provided to match the attached datasets. Need to specify working directory according to your system. Required packages are included at the top of the script.