ICOM1 Abstract

/physiology BRAUNBERGERPETER, DAVID READ, IAN WOODWARD Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK. - The growth of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) in ambient and elevated CO2 environments Mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) plants were grown in ambient (350 µlmol mol-l) and elevated (550 µmol mol-1) CO2 environments in glasshouses. Plant growth, rate of CO2 assimilation and mycorrhizal colonization were assessed over a summer growing season. Mycorrhizal colonization in a low phosphorus treatment increased the rate of CO2 assimilation in ambient and elevated CO2 environments similarly. Mycorrhizal colonization resulted in only a small increase in plant growth in both ambient and elevated CO2 environments. The proportion of the root length colonized by hyphae was not different in ambient and elevated CO2 environments. These preliminary results indicate that the function of mycorrhizas of ragwort is similar in ambient and elevated CO2 environments.