Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in continuous cropping soils used for pepper production

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play vital roles in plant productivity in agroecosystems. The objective of this paper was to study the diversity of AMF in root zone soils of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Spores of AMF, pH value, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and organic matter contents were analyzed for soil samples from greenhouses in Shandong Province with 5, 10, and 15 years of continuous pepper cultivation. The soil from wheat growing field nearby was used as control. Our results showed that Glomus was the dominant genera in the 15 years of pepper continuous cropping (PCC15) soils; however, there was no dominance by a specific species.Glomus and Acaulospora were the dominant genera and Scutellospora was common in soils continuously cropped with pepper for 5 and 10 years compared to the control.Glomus aggregatum was the dominant species in the 5 years soil, while Glomus mosseae and Glomus constrictum were the dominant species in the control. Species richness and Shannon-Wiener indices for AMF in the 5 and 10 years pepper soil were similar to the control, but significantly different in the PCC15 soil. Analysis of soil nutrients on diversity of AMF showed that heavy fertilization may inhibit the growth of AMF, while appropriate fertilizer application could promote their abundance. Key words: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, continuous cropping, pepper, diversities.