Borax mining at the Rio Tinto boron mine in Boron, California has caused pollution of soil, desertification of local habitats, and loss of biodiversity due to severe boron contamination. I conducted a phytoremediation study to test the effects arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in association with native plant species. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ...

Beneficial plant-microorganism interactions are widespread in nature. Among them, the symbiosis between plant roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is of major importance, commonly improving host nutrition and tolerance against environmental and biotic challenges. Metabolic changes were observed in a well-established symbiosis between tomato and two common AMF: Rhizophagus irregularis an...

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), a biennial species, is considered to be among the most troublesome of the invasive plants in the Eastern Deciduous forest of North America. It has been shown to prevent or reduce mycorrhizal colonization of native herbaceous ground layer plants and trees in these forests. It is estimated that 70-90% or more of herbaceous native ground layer plant species for...

Drought stress is one of the most important environmental stresses affecting plant growth, yield and crop production around the world. It is believed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are used for protecting plants against drought damage.Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have been used in recent years to cope with water stress in many plants. In this study, the relationship between water d...

Commercial production of tree seedlings often includes various biocidal soil treatments for disease control. Such treatments can be effective in eliminating or reducing disease organisms in the soil, but may also eliminate non-targeted beneficial soil organisms, such as mycorrhizal fungi, that improve seedling performance, both in the nursery as well as the outplanted environment. The arbuscula...

Vegetatively colonized agar cores of 69 basidiomycete fungus isolates (48 species in 30 genera and 17 families) were stored at 5 degrees C in tubes of sterile distilled water without manipulation for 20 years. These were represented by 34 isolates of saprotrophic fungi (29 species in 19 genera) and 35 isolates of mycorrhizal fungi (19 species in 11 genera). Viability was evaluated based on revi...

Greenhouse studies have shown that when rough lemon (Citrus limon) seedlings infected with TyIenchulus semipenetrans were transplanted into soil infested with Glomus mosseae, the mycorrhizal fungus infection increased seedling growth compared to nonntycorrhizal seedlings. Tylenchulus semipenetrans significantly suppressed seedling growth below that of mycorrhizal seedlings. Histological observa...

The effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi on nitrogen concentration of berseem clover were examined in contaminated soil with cadmium. Examined factors included: levels of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation (Glomus mosseae) (With and without inoculation), and different levels of soil contamination by cadmium (0, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg.kg-1). The results showed that the effects of cadmi...

The roots of most land plants are colonised by mycorrhizal fungi that provide mineral nutrients in exchange for carbon. Here, we show that mycorrhizal mycelia can also act as a conduit for signalling between plants, acting as an early warning system for herbivore attack. Insect herbivory causes systemic changes in the production of plant volatiles, particularly methyl salicylate, making bean pl...