Abstract
Thailand is part of Southeast Asia that covers the center of diversity of citrus species, where various species of thegenus are widely grown. One of the most common is tangerine (Citrus reticulata), which is commonly grown bygrafting on rootstocks of different tangerine varieties or other citrus species. The objective of this study is to investigateresponses of some Citrus spp. seedlings to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and thus their potential as rootstocks.The experiment was done with four tangerine varieties, Cleopatra, Fremont, Ocean and Sainamphung; and four othercitrus species, lime (C. aurantifolia), pomelo (C. maxima), sweet orange (C. sinensis) and Troyer citrange (Citrussinensis????Poncirus trifoliata), in pots for five months. Roots of non-inoculated plants were not infected with AM fungi,while inoculated plants were heavily infected with AM fungi, and contained 14-28 AM spores per 10????g of rhizospheresoil. Most of the citrus responded positively to AM fungi, but with different magnitudes among the varieties and species.Lime and pomelo seedlings were fast growing compared to other citrus species. Total dry weight and N, P, K and Mgcontents were increased most strongly by AM fungi in lime, pomelo and tangerine varieties Ocean, Fremont andSainamphung, but little or none in Cleopatra, Troyer and sweet orange. Lime was the most outstanding in the responseto AM fungi, followed by Ocean tangerine and pomelo. The potential of lime, pomelo and Ocean tangerine as rootstockfor tangerine should be further investigated.
Highlights
Southeast Asia is generally considered the center of diversity of citrus (Moore, 2001)
Spores production may not correlate to percentage of root colonization it depends on Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal ability to produce spores in each soil condition (Smith and Read, 1997; Youpensuk et al, 2006)
There were some difference in the AM fungal species among the different varieties of tangerine, such as G. aggregatum was found only in the tangerine variety Cleopatra but A. rugosa was not found in this variety while it was found in the other varieties, and A. delicata was found in only tangerine variety Ocean
Summary
Southeast Asia is generally considered the center of diversity of citrus (Moore, 2001). Various kinds of citrus plants are grown in all regions of Thailand, one of the most widely grown is tangerine (C. reticulata) especially the variety Sainamphung. Tangerine is commonly grown by grafting on rootstocks of different tangerine varieties or other citrus species. Tangerine variety Cleopatra and a hybrid citrange or Troyer (Citrus sinensisuPoncirus trifoliata) are used widely as rootstock in Sainamphung tangerine orchards in Thailand. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are mutualistic associations with plant roots. They improve the nutritional status of plants resulting in increased growth of the host plants, and they can improve soil structure (Douds and Millner, 999). Youpensuk et al (2008) reported that twenty-two species of AM fungi were found in tangerine AM fungi are an important part of sustainable agricultural systems. Youpensuk et al (2008) reported that twenty-two species of AM fungi were found in tangerine
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