Quantifying microbial communities in pot cultures of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi: A comprehensive analysis

Abstract

Substrate based inoculum production using traditional “Pot Culture” technique contains all AMF structures, and is highly infective and common method of AM fungal production and pure culture maintenance. Aim of the present study was to investigate the microorganisms associated (Bacteria, Fungi, Actinomycetes, Nitrogen fixers, P-solubilizers) with pot cultures of 10 AM fungal cultures like Acaulospora laevis, Gigaspora margarita, Funneliformis caledonius, Rhizophagus fasciculatus, Rhizophagus intraradices, Ambispora leptoticha, Glomus macrocarpum, Funneliformis mosseae, Glomus bagyarajii and Entrophospora etunicata (=Claroideoglomus etunicatum) through quantitative analysis. The highest bacterial population (37×107 and 35×107) were associated with pots of G. margarita and R. fasciculatus respectively. The highest fungal population was observed in pots of Glomus macrocarpum (87×105) and R. fasciculatus (82×105). The F. caledonius and R. fasciculatus pot cultures harboured the highest actinomycetes population. The highest N-fixing and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (92×104 and 54×104) were isolated from the pots of R. fasciculatus and G. margarita respectively. However, the highest dehydrogenase activity was observed in the sample collected from pots of R. fasciculatus. These findings highlight the distinct preferences and proliferation rates of different microbial groups in the pot cultures of different AM fungal species.