identification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with crataegus pontica c. koch from ilam province, iran

to identify arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (amf) associated with crataegus pontica c. koch, 54 soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of this plant in ilam province, western iran. isolation of mycorrhizal spores was conducted by wet sieving followed by centrifuge. amf were identified based on morphological characteristics of spores. in this study, 13 species of amf belonging to five genera (i.e. acaulospora, entrophospora, glomus, funneliformis and claroideo glomus) were identified. the result showed that acaulospora was the most dominant (30.77%) isolated from the rhizosphere of c. pontica. the glomus caesaris andclaroideoglomus etunicatum had the highest (17%) and g. pansihalos had the lowest (3.7%) frequency in this study. results indicated that amf spores had high variation in the rhizosphere of c. pontica.