Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) establish symbioses with the major cereal crops, providing plants with increased access to nutrients while enhancing their tolerance to toxic heavy metals. However, not all plant varieties benefit equally from this association. In this study, we used quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping to evaluate the combined effect of host genotypic variation (G) and AMF across 141 genotypes on the concentration of 20 mineral elements in the leaves and grain of field grown maize (Zea mays spp. mays). Our mapping design included selective incorporation of a castor AMF-incompatibility mutation, allowing estimation of AMF, QTL and QTLxAMF effects by comparison of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants. Overall, AMF compatibility was associated with higher concentrations of boron (B), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), phosphorus (P), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) and lower concentrations of arsenic (As), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), potassium (K) and strontium (Sr). In addition to effects on individual elements, pairwise correlation matrices for element concentration differed between mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants. We mapped 22 element QTLs, including 18 associated with QTLxAMF effects that indicate plant genotype-specific differences in the impact of AMF on the host ionome. Although there is considerable interest in AMF as biofertilizers, it remains challenging to estimate the impact of AMF in the field. Our design illustrates an effective approach for field evaluation of AMF effects. Furthermore, we demonstrate the capacity of the ionome to reveal host genotype-specific variation in the impact of AMF on plant nutrition.

丛枝菌根真菌 (AMF) 与主要谷类作物建立共生关系，为植物提供更多营养，同时增强其对有毒重金属的耐受性。然而，并非所有植物品种都同样受益于这种关联。在本研究中，我们使用数量性状位点 (QTL) 作图来评估 141 个基因型的宿主基因型变异 (G) 和 AMF 对田间种植玉米 ( Zea mays spp) 叶片和籽粒中 20 种矿物元素浓度的综合影响可能）。我们的作图设计包括选择性掺入蓖麻AMF 不相容性突变，从而通过比较菌根和非菌根植物来估计 AMF、QTL 和 QTLxAMF 效应。总体而言，AMF 兼容性与较高浓度的硼 (B)、铜 (Cu)、钼 (Mo)、磷 (P)、硒 (Se) 和锌 (Zn) 以及较低浓度的砷 (As)、铁 ( Fe)、镁 (Mg)、锰 (Mn)、钾 (K) 和锶 (Sr)。除了对单个元素的影响外，菌根植物和非菌根植物的元素浓度的成对相关矩阵也不同。我们绘制了 22 个元素 QTL，其中 18 个与 QTLxAMF 效应相关，表明 AMF 对宿主离子组影响的植物基因型特异性差异。尽管人们对 AMF 作为生物肥料相当感兴趣，但评估 AMF 在田间的影响仍然具有挑战性。我们的设计展示了一种现场评估 AMF 效应的有效方法。此外，我们证明了离子组能够揭示 AMF 对植物营养影响的宿主基因型特异性变化。