Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Inoculum to Support Sustainable Cropping Systems

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) are symbiotic associations, formed between plants and soil fungi that play an essential role in plant growth, plant protection, and soil quality. The AM fungi expand their filaments in soil and plant roots. This filamentous network promote bi‐directional nutrient movement where soil nutrients and water move to the plant and plant photosynthates flow to the fungal network. AM fungi are ubiquitous in the soil and can form symbiosis with most terrestrial plants including major crops, cereals, vegetables, and horticultural plants. In agriculture, several factors, such as host crop dependency to mycorrhizal colonization, tillage system, fertilizer application, and mycorrhizal fungi inoculum's potential can affect plant response and plant benefits from mycorrhizae. Due to their obligate symbiotic status, AM fungi need to associate with plant for growth and proliferation. Consequently, the cultivation of AM fungal strains and the maintenance of reference collections require methodologies and infrastructures quite different from those used with other microbial collections and inoculum production. Interest in AM fungi propagation for agriculture is increasing due to their role in the promotion of plant health, in soil nutrition improvement, and soil aggregate stability. The comprehensive life cycle of AM fungi and methods currently used for the propagation of inoculum and the maintenance of in vivo and in vitro source collections are described. Methods and regulations of large‐scale production of commercial inoculum that provide users with products of high quality and efficiency are discussed.

Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 Survival in Soil and Translocation into Leeks (Allium porrum) as Influenced by an Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus (Glomus intraradices)

“…Various studies have addressed the question of produce-internalized human pathogens, primarily with plants grown hydroponically or in conventional agricultural systems (10,19,20,58), without acknowledging the potential influence of mycorrhizal fungi. Utilization of AM fungi is an important aspect of both organic and conventional farming, due to the formation of its symbiotic associations with crops (33).…”

“…Utilization of AM fungi is an important aspect of both organic and conventional farming, due to the formation of its symbiotic associations with crops (33). Several studies have established synergistic properties between AM fungi and biocontrol agents such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, Burkholderia cepacia Palleroni & Holmes, Trichoderma harzianum Rifai, and Verticillium chlamydosporium Kamyschko ex Barron (58). According to Dalpé and Monreal (58), these interactions suggest that AM fungi may affect plant and soil microbial activity by influencing the production of root exudates, hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins, phenolic compounds, peroxidases, and phytoalexins.…”

“…According to Dalpé and Monreal (58), these interactions suggest that AM fungi may affect plant and soil microbial activity by influencing the production of root exudates, hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins, phenolic compounds, peroxidases, and phytoalexins. Moreover, activity of plant defense genes heightens the production of glucanases, chitinases, flavonoids, and phytoalexins-all of which have been detected during mycorrhizal growth-but these defense induction properties remain transitory (58,59). Additionally, AM fungi are known to enhance the populations of endogenous soil bacteria, inhibiting the growth of plant pathogens and improving crop productivity (60).…”

Metal uptake, oxidative metabolism, and mycorrhization in pigeonpeaand pea under arsenic and cadmium stress

“…Mycorrhizal inoculum of Funneliformis mosseae (formerly called Glomus mosseae) (UTMU 128 WM1/11) was obtained from The Energy and Resource Institute, New Delhi, India. The inoculum was bulked in an open-pot soil culture (Miyasaka et al, 2003;Dalpé and Monreal, 2004) using Zea mays L., Sorghum bicolor L., and Coriandrum sativum L. Inocula of Sinorhizobium fredii AR-4 for pigeonpea and Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae strain PRH-1 for pea were procured from the Department of Microbiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and the Department of Microbiology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India, respectively.…”

Effective Spore Density of <i>Glomus mosseae</i>, Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (AM), for Inoculation of Rooted Cuttings of Black Pepper (<i>Piper nigrum</i> Linn.)

“…The AM fungi inoculated to crop plants colonize the plant root system and increase the growth and yield of crop plants including pepper (Rao, 1993;Thanuja, 2002, Durgapal et al, 2002). The AM associated improvement of plant growth is attributed to various mechanisms such as increased uptake of nutrients and water, production of plant growth promoting substances, tolerance to drought and salinity and resistance to plant pathogens (Dalpe and Monreal, 2004). Glomus mosseae, an AM fungus, forms large asexual chlamydospores at the hyphal tips, usually one per tip, which are highly infective to genera of herbaceous and woody plants in a wide range of conditions.…”