The role of endomycorrhizal fungi in iron uptake by Hilaria jamesii

Abstract

Abstract The semiarid warm season grass galleta [Hilaria jamesii (Torr.)] was used in a series of mycorrhizal experiments to determine the mechanism of enhanced iron (Fe) absorption under conditions of Fe deficiency. Galleta was grown from seed in sterilized soil which had either been infested with mycorrhizal fungi or left uninfested. The four fungal species used to infest the soil were Glomus albidum, Glomus fasciculatum, Glomus macrocarpum, and Glomus mosseae. After 85 days of growth, the nonmycorrhizal and mycorrhizal plants were removed from the soil and placed in complete Hoagland's hydroponic nutrient solutions with phosphorus (P) at 1/5 the normal concentration. Galleta, grown hydroponically from seed, was used as a second nonmycorrhizal control. At the end of ten days of growth, the plants were transferred to Hoagland's nutrient solution at 1/5 the phosphorus concentration and without Fe. The plants were grown for twenty days in this solution; at the end of the growth period, all of the treatment...