Abstract

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Association in Some Medicinal Plant Species in the Hills of Himachal Pradesh, India

Author(s): Aditya Kumar*,Chhavi Mangla and Ashok Aggarwal

Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are used in various systems of medicines in different parts of the globe. In addition to conventional cultivation of MAPs, recent emphasis is on exploiting useful and appropriate soil microorganisms present in the rhizosphere of medicinal plants. In the present investigation, attempts were made to screen out arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) biodiversity from different medicinal plants. A total of ten plants from six different families were screened for arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) spore number and root coloniza-tion. The mycorrhizal root colonization ranged from 21.35±5.94 to 100.0±0.00 percent. Cichorium intybusshowed maximum root colonization and Curculigo orchiodesshowed minimummycorrhizal root colonization. The spore number ranged from 52.00±4.35 to 178.0 ± 6.2. The highest mycorrhizal spore count was found in Centratherum anthelminticumand lowest in Cichorium intybus. It was found that number of spores in the rhizosphere of plant was not related to the intensity of AM root colonization. Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization and spore population var-ied significantly in different plant species as showed by results.<

PDF