VIEW ARTICLE

Physiology and Biochemistry

Influence of Air Pollutant Gases on Oxygen Uptake of Pine Roots with Selected Ectomycorrhizae. J. L. Carney, Research Assistant, College of Life Sciences, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272, Present address of senior author: El Dorado, AR 71730; H. E. Garrett(2), and H. G. Hedrick(3). (2)(3)Associate Professor of Silviculture, and Professor of Microbiology, respectively, College of Life Sciences, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272, (2)Present address: School of Forestry, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65201. Phytopathology 68:1160-1163. Accepted for publication 7 February 1978. Copyright © 1978 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-68-1160.

Oxygen uptake was determined for root segments of greenhouse-grown loblolly pine seedlings, with and without ectomycorrhizae, following exposure to 50 and 500 μliters/m³ O₃ or SO₂. Oxygen uptake was determined at 30-min intervals over a 3-hr period following a 1-hr exposure to each concentration of each gas. The root segments without ectomycorrhizae showed less O₂ uptake than those with ectomycorrhizae. The results indicate that development of ectomycorrhizal-root associations may afford some level of protection for the feeder-root system of loblolly pine trees when exposed to the concentrations of O₃ or SO₂ common in many areas subject to air pollution.