Do silver nanoparticles stimulate the formation of ectomycorrhizae in seedlings of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.)?

Metal nanoparticles are gaining ever-wider application in agriculture and forestry, as alternatives to chemical agents used as fertilisers, growth stimulators and pesticides, establishing a need for eco-toxicological risk assessment of these agents. We tested the effects of foliar-applied silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on chlorophyll a fluorescence and on abundance and species composition of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) colonisation. The application of AgNPs at concentrations of 5, 25 and 50 ppm was found to stimulate the formation of mycorrhizae in seedlings of pedunculate oak, with the highest effect at intermediate concentrations (25 ppm). There were non-linear effects on the relative abundance of ECM fungal species. The proportion of dominant T. terrestris was highest in the control group, whereas the shares of ECM formed by the two other species, S. brunnea and P. involutus, were higher in the treatments with intermediate and maximal concentrations of AgNPs, respectively. Maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/fm) assessed by chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements revealed slight debilitation of oak seedlings irrespective of the application of AgNPs and their concentrations. This result offered an indirect indication that photosynthesis capacity had no influence on the level of mycorrhization. We hypothesise that foliar AgNPs treatments at concentrations below thresholds of acute toxicity and in the absence of significant effects on chlorophyll a fluorescence may still exert significant influence on biotic interactions including mycorrhizal symbioses by impacting plant hormonal balance, particularly ethylene, and regulatory pathways involved in host control of ECM colonisation.