Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophyte (DSE) associations were studied in 36 medicinal plant species from 33 genera and 17 families, collected from the Botanical Garden of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) was found in 34 species (94%); 26 were of the <em>Arum</em>-type, 4 – <em>Paris </em>and 4 taxa revealed intermediate morphology. The abundance of AMF hyphae in roots varied with particular species, ranging from 2.5% (<em>Helianthus tuberosus</em>) to 77.9% (<em>Convallaria majalis</em>). The mycelium of DSE was observed in 13 plant species (36%), however, the percentage of root colonization by these fungi was low. Spores of 7 AMF species (Glomeromycota) were isolated from trap cultures established from rhizosphere soils of the investigated plants: <em>Archaeospora trappei </em>(Archaeosporaceae), <em>Glomus aureum</em>, <em>Glomus caledonium</em>, <em>Glomus claroideum</em>, <em>Glomus constrictum</em>, <em>Glomus mosseae</em>, <em>Glomus versiforme </em>(Glomeraceae). Our results are the first detailed report of root endophyte associations of the plant species under study. Moreover, the mycorrhizal status of 14 plant species is reported for the first time.
Highlights
Over 35000 medicinal plant species are used in medicine in different regions of the world [1]
We focused on the evaluation of mycorrhizal status and the degree of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) root colonization as well as the characterization of morphotypes of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) of these plant species
The abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in roots varied with particular species, ranging from 2.5% (Helianthus tuberosus) to 77.9% (Convallaria majalis; Tab. 1)
Summary
Over 35000 medicinal plant species are used in medicine in different regions of the world [1]. In several studies, AMF and DSE have been found to enhance plant growth, photosynthetic activity, phosphorus content, act antagonistically towards soilborne fungal pathogens, and modify the concentration of plant metabolites [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17] For this reason, the recognition of mycorrhizal status, monitoring of soil fungi and selection of beneficial microbial consortia to inoculate cultivated medicinal plants could be of particular value
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