Résumé
Phosphorus (P) acquisition and use by southern highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum L. plants is critical during early stages of development and impair root development, especially for growth substrates with poor nutrient contents. However, inoculation of blueberry plants with ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (ErMF) or dark septate endophytes (DSE) can improve P during the plants acclimation stages and reduce plant mortality, especially in dry northern Mediterranean climate conditions. Herein, we grew southern highbush blueberry micro-cuttings in conditions without inoculation (control) or in inoculated with four strains: two Ericoid mycorrhizal sp. (D01), and (C01), E. endophyte (C31), and Phialocephala fortinii Wang & Wilcox in sandy (S), fresh field (FF), and FF+S soil mix substrates for 10 months before harvest. At harvest, root colonization levels, plant height, leaf area, the fresh matter of roots and shoots, root-to-shoot ratio, P content, and P utilization efficiency (PUE) were measured. We found that the root colonization levels were inhibited in the S for the different inoculated F treatments, owing to the elevated carbonate and salt concentrations present. The average P uptake responses from the different F inoculated strains were 52.2 %, 29.6 %, and 22.4 % in the S, FF, and FF+S substrates. Inoculation of blueberry plants with C31 strain exhibited the highest (59.1 %) P uptake average response, inoculation with P. fortinii strain showed the lowest (15.8 %) response. The root growth responses were inhibited in the FF+S (-0.2 %), increased in the S (8.4 %), and FF (6.2 %) substrates. Our findings therefore describe responses under controlled nursery conditions with single-strain inoculation and three substrate types. Because blueberry roots in the field are commonly co-colonized by multiple ericoid and endophytic fungi, interactions among partners may amplify or dampen the effects observed here; future work should test coinoculation consortia and validate performance under field conditions.