Changes in soil nutrient availability during long-term ecosystem development influence the relative abundances of plant species with different nutrient-acquisition strategies. These changes in strategies are observed at the community level, but whether they also occur within individual species remains unknown. Plant species forming multiple root symbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi,...

• Since mycorrhizal fungi constitute an important component of the soil–plant interface, their responses to changes in nutrient availability may mediate shifts in ecosystem function. We tested the hypothesis that initial soil nutrient availability may determine effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions on the growth and community of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. • Extraradical h...

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi hold considerable potential for use as inoculant and nowadays much attention is focused on mass production of AM fungal inoculum, since this is of paramount importance in improving plant production in agriculture and horticulture. However, effectivity of these fungi on crop growth relies on their production practices, typically the substrate selected for its ma...

Strigolactones released from plant roots trigger both seed germination of parasitic weeds such as Striga spp. and hyphal branching of the symbionts arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Generally, strigolactone composition in exudates is quantitatively and qualitatively different among plants, which may be involved in susceptibility and host specificity in the parasite-plant interactions. We hypot...

Nutrient composition and yield of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr] seeds are heritable traits affected by environmental factors. This study determined the effects of arbuscular-mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on seed protein, lipid, and phosphorus (P) composition and yield in soybean grown under a high nitrogen (N) regime. Plants were grown in pot cultures without AM fungi in P-fertilized (+P) or unferti...

Although much is known about how trees and their associated microbes influence nitrogen cycling in temperate forest soils, less is known about biotic controls over phosphorus (P) cycling. Given that mycorrhizal fungi are instrumental for P acquisition and that the two dominant associations - arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi - possess different strategies for acquiring...

The mycorrhizal status of plants in the Chenopodiaceae is not well studied with a few controversial reports. This study examined arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization and growth response of Ceratocarpus arenarius in the field and a greenhouse inoculation trial. The colonization rate of AM fungi in C. arenarius in in-growth field cores was low (around 15%). Vesicles and intraradical hyphae we...

The present investigation was aimed at determining the effects of arbuscular mycorrhiza on growth and yield of chilli plants grown under salinity condition. Seeds of chilli were sown in sand beds in size 5×1m under shade net condition at Botanical Garden, Department of Botany, Annamalai University. Forty days old seedlings (DAS) were transplanted into pots (one seedling per pot) until the fruit...

Phytoaccumulation of radionuclides is of significant interest with regards to monitoring radionuclide build-up in food chains, developing methods for environmental bioremediation and for ecological management. There are many gaps in our understanding of the characteristics and mechanisms of plant radionuclide accumulation, including the importance of symbiotically-associated arbuscular mycorrhi...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are widely distributed microbes that form obligate symbioses with the majority of terrestrial plants, altering nutrient transfers between soils and plants, thereby profoundly affecting plant growth and ecosystem properties. Molecular methods are commonly used in the study of AM fungal communities. However, the biases associated with PCR amplification of these o...