Effect of Culture, Age and Pruning on Mass Production of the VA Mycorrhizal Fungus, Glomus fascicuiatum.

Glomus fasciculatum .pot cultures were raised in Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth) using perlite - soilrite mix (1:1 by volume) in 16 cm pots holding 700 g substrate and were harvested at different intervals. Cultures harvested on the 75th day after sowing had the maximum number of infective propagules. In a second experiment, pruning was found to reduce the mychizal propagules up to 4 weeks. However, the propagules increased from 5th week onwards

Stressed out symbiotes:hypotheses for the influence of abiotic stress on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Abiotic stress is a widespread threat to both plant and soil communities. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can alleviate effects of abiotic stress by improving host plant stress tolerance, but the direct effects of abiotic stress on AM fungi are less well understood. We propose two hypotheses predicting how AM fungi will respond to abiotic stress. The stress exclusion hypothesis predicts that AM fungal abundance and diversity will decrease with persistent abiotic stress. The mycorrhizal stress adaptation hypothesis predicts that AM fungi will evolve in response to abiotic stress to maintain their fitness. We conclude that abiotic stress can have effects on AM fungi independent of the effects on the host plant. AM fungal communities will change in composition in response to abiotic stress, which may mean the loss of important individual species. This could alter feedbacks to the plant community and beyond. AM fungi will adapt to abiotic stress independent of their host plant. The adaptation of AM fungi to abiotic stress should allow the maintenance of the plant-AM fungal mutualism in the face of changing climates. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3673-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Influence of Microbial Consortium in the Production of China Aster and Gaillardia Seedlings

China aster and gaillardia are flowering plants with high economic importance in floriculture. In the present investigation, response of China aster and gaillardia seedlings to inoculation with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae + the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Bacillus sonorensis was studied by growing in multipots (pro trays). The germination percentage and plant growth parameters: length of shoots, roots and whole seedlings, stem diameter, biovolume index, plant strength, vigor index, dry weight and nutrient uptake, were analyzed 60 days after sowing. The microbial parameters, mycorrhizal root colonization and spore count, and the population of B. sonorensis in the substrate were also determined. The results brought out that growth of inoculated seedlings was significantly improved as compared to uninoculated seedlings. Based on the plant growth and microbial parameters studied, it was concluded that inoculating the substrate in pro trays with the microbial consortium results in producing vigorously growing seedlings

Mycorrhizal colonization in cowpea is host dependent and heritable

Cowpea genotypes (101) of diverse origin were evaluated for their endomycorrhizal colonization under natural field conditions in an alfisol soil. There was considerable variation in colonization ranging from 0 to 28.6%. The genetic coefficient of variability was high (55.9), heritability moderate (46.2) with high genetic advance (78.3) revealing that mycorrhizal colonization is not only host dependent but heritable

Influence of microbial consortium in the production of China aster and gaillardia seedlings

China aster and gaillardia are flowering plants with high economic importance in floriculture. In the present investigation, response of China aster and gaillardia seedlings to inoculation with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae + the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Bacillus sonorensis was studied by growing in multipots (pro trays). The germination percentage and plant growth parameters: length of shoots, roots and whole seedlings, stem diameter, biovolume index, plant strength, vigor index, dry weight and nutrient uptake, were analyzed 60 days after sowing. The microbial parameters, mycorrhizal root colonization and spore count, and the population of B. sonorensis in the substrate were also determined. The results brought out that growth of inoculated seedlings was significantly improved as compared to uninoculated seedlings. Based on the plant growth and microbial parameters studied, it was concluded that inoculating the substrate in pro trays with the microbial consortium results in producing vigorously growing seedlings