Journal of Taiwan Agricultural Research

Author:Ming-Fuh Chuang and Yung-Hsiung Cheng*

Abstract:

    Bahiagrass roots were inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Glomus aggregatutm (Ga), G. etunicatum (Ge), G. mosseae (Gm) and Acaulospora scrobiculata (As) every two weeks for one year, and spores of these fungi placed on membrane filters were embedded in sterilized sand and incubated at 20, 24, 28 or 32℃. Results show that all three species of Glomus were capable of infecting bahiagrass roots and forming mycorrhiza all the year. However, As was able to form good mycorrhiza only when bahiagrass root were inoculated in May-September. When inoculation was performed in the other months of the year, mycorrhizal formation by this fungus was very poor or not at all. Inoculation periods favorable to spore production were January-April for Ga, January-April and August-September for Ge, May-October for Gm, and May to mid September for As. In these periods, average numbers of spores per 100g soil produced by Ga, Ge, Gm and As were 54, 4024, 1019 and 2010, respectively. The temperature range suitable for germination was broader (20-32℃) for Ga and Ge. High germination rates occurred at 28, 32℃ for Ga, and 20, 24 and 32℃ for Ge. As the temperature increased, the time needed for obtaining high germination rate decreased. The optimum temperature for spore germination of Gm and As was 28℃, but germination rates were low for As at the four temperatures tested. Our results show that the three species of Glomus tested can infect bahiagrass roots and produce spores all the year due to their broad temperature range for spore germination. Factors required for high germination rate of As remain to be investigated.

Key words:Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Propagation, Temperature, Germination

Download: PDF Links