Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are soil-borne fungi belonging to the ancient phylum Glomeromycota and are important symbionts of the arbuscular mycorrhiza, enhancing plant nutrient acquisition and resistance to various abiotic stresses. In contrast to their significant physiological implications, the molecular basis involved is poorly understood, largely due to their obligate biotrophism and...

Real-time PCR in nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) is becoming a well-established tool for the quantification of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, but this genomic region does not allow the specific amplification of closely related genotypes. The large subunit of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has a higher-resolution power, but mtDNA-based quantification has not been previously explored in AM fungi. We...

High concentrations of heavy metals in the soil have detrimental effects on ecosystems and are a risk to human health as they can enter the food chain via agricultural products or contaminated drinking water. Phytoremediation is the direct use of living plants for in situ remediation of metal contaminated soil, sludges, sediments and ground water through contaminant removal, degradation or cont...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi play an essential role for the nutrient uptake of the majority of land plants, including many important crop species. The extraradical mycelium of the fungus takes up nutrients from the soil, transfers these nutrients to the intraradical mycelium within the host root, and exchanges the nutrients against carbon from the host across a specialized plant-fungal int...

Few studies have examined how below-ground interactions among plants affect the abundance and community composition of symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi. Here, we combined observations during drought with a removal experiment to examine the effects of below-ground interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) shrubs on the growth of pinyon pines (Pinus edulis), and the abundance and community composi...

Potassium in plants accounts for up to 10% dry weight, and participates in different physiological processes. Under drought stress, plant requires more potassium but potassium availability in soil solutes is lowered by decreased soil water content. Forming symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi not only enlarges exploration range of plant for mineral nutrients and water in soil, but a...

The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on growth and phosphorus (P) inflow into two species of clover plant with different root morphology were studied. The experiment was arranged as a randomized complete block design consisting of a 2×3×3 factorial combination of two clover species (Trifolium alexandrinum L. and Trifolium pratense L.), three mycorrhiza states (without mycorrhiza, Gl...

The application of Cd inhibited the development of mycelia of the saprobe fungi Fusarium concolor and Trichoderma koningii and the hyphal length of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Glomus mosseae and G. deserticola in vitro. The application to soil of 25 and 50 mg l–1 of Cd decreased the shoot dry weight, the percentage of AM root length colonization and the succinate dehydrogenase activity of ...

The response of pea (Pisum sativum cv. Avola) to arbuscular micorrizal fungi (AM) species Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices and Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. Viciae, strain D293 regarding growth, nodulation and nitrogen fixing activity was studied. Pea plants (Pisum sativum cv. Avola) were grown in a glasshouse until flowering stage (35 days) in 4 kg plastic pots using leached cinnamonic for...

Abstract Extraradical spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are often parasitized by a wide range soil microorganisms. However, reports on the parasitization intraradical structures AM very rare. While examining colonization in roots Cuminum cyminum and Sambucus nigra growing medicinal plants garden Centre Medicinal Plants Research Homeopathy Nilgiris, we found that fungal hyphal coils, a...