Eucalypt is efficient at taking up Ca from the soil, however little is known about the contribution of ectomycorrhizas and organic acids to this process under field conditions. The accumulation of calcium oxalate crystals (CaOx) was evaluated in, approximately, 2,100 fine lateral roots and ectomycorrhizas of a 2.5-year-old Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla hybrid, grown in a mountainous area at Viçosa, MG, Brazil. Optical and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used for CaOx observation. Abundant accumulation of calcium as druses or grains in the root cortex cells was observed in 73.7 % of the fine lateral roots. The conspicuous presence of CaOx was observed in 56.2 % of the ectomycorrhizal and in 17.5 % of the nonmycorrhizal fine lateral roots, evidencing the role of the ectomycorrhizal association in calcium storage of eucalypt roots. In the ectomycorrhizal root, druses were the predominant CaOx form, while in nonmycorrhizal roots crystalline grains were more frequent. The 10 ectomycorrhizal morphotypes observed varied in relation to the CaOx content in the root cortex, possibly representing distinct capacities of each ectomycorrizal fungi to supply Ca to the host plant. The analysis of the mantle surface of the different ectomycorrhizal morphotypes by scanning electron microscopy did not detect the presence of CaOx in this structure, confirming that under the conditions evaluated, CaOx accumulation in the association is limited to the root cortex. This is the first report on the occurrence of CaOx in eucalypt ectomycorrhizas in Brazil, with data that demonstrate the existence of calcium storage mechanisms in the ectomycorrhizas in areas with low calcium availability.
ectomycorrhiza; druse; mineral nutrition; organic acids; microscopy
