Root colonization of different hosts by the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus dimorphicum

Abstract

Colonization of the roots of beans, alfalfa, onions, red clover, corn, and four barley cultivars (Bonanza, Klondike, Gateway 63, and Olli) by Glomus dimorphicum Boyetchko and Tewari, a vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus isolated from a barley field in Alberta, Canada, was studied under greenhouse conditions. Infection levels were low in all four barley cultivars but were higher in beans, alfalfa, and onions and were highest in red clover and corn roots. The infection patterns of G. dimorphicum varied among all the hosts. Coiling of intracellular hyphae occurred in corn, alfalfa, and red clover roots. Appreciable numbers of intraradical vesicles were found only in red clover and bean roots, while arbuscules formed in all hosts except barley. It was concluded that the pattern of root colonization by G. dimorphicum is influenced by the host genome and that the fungal morphology in the roots is variable and, thus, not diagnostic for the mycorrhizal species.