Nuclear DNA content in root cells of Lotus and Trifolium colonized by the VAM fungus, Glomus versiforme

Abstract

SUMMARYNuclear DNA content of root cortical cells of Lotus pedunculatus Cav., Lotus corniculatus L. and Trifolium pratense L. was determined using a microspectrophotometer. Infected and uninfected roots from plants which had been colonized with the fungus, Glomus versiforme (Daniels and Trappe) Berch and roots from non‐inoculated plants were compared. Relative DNA contents for cortical cell nuclei of the three hosts were within the 2–4C range for uninfected root cells. There was no evidence that the VAM fungus, G. versiforme, induced endoreduplication of cortical cell nuclei during infection of these forage legumes. Nuclear enlargement reported in other studies of VAM colonization is likely to involve mechanisms of nuclear enlargement other than DNA endoreduplication.