Effects of mycorrhizal inoculants on cultivation of two spice pepper types and local arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community

Authors

  • Ildikó Hernádi Szent István University, Plant Protection Institute, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Group, H-2100 Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1.
  • Franco Magurno Szent István University, Plant Protection Institute, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Group, H-2100 Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1.
  • Zita Sasvári Szent István University, Plant Protection Institute, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Group, H-2100 Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1.
  • Katalin Posta Szent István University, Plant Protection Institute, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Group, H-2100 Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56617/tl.3791

Keywords:

pepper, arbuscular mycorrhiza, diversity, PCR-RFLP

Abstract

Plants in most of the major plant families form symbiotic associations between their roots and mycorrhizal fungi in nature. One type of mycorrhizal association, the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, can contribute significantly to plant nutrition by promoting the uptake of phosphorus, nitrogen, resulting in improved plant growth and health. Colonization by AM may also improve rooting and plant establishment and enhance plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress. Though the majority of horticultural crops are mycorrhiza-dependent, the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation in plant production has been neglected in high-input agriculture.
Field application of commercial inoculum mix of Glomus spp. was tested in two types of spice pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. longum), cv. Szegedi and cv. Kalocsai cultivation. With polymerase chain reactionrestriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), differences in small subunit ribosomal RNA genes were used to characterize groups of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) with respect to effects of mycorrhizal inoculation on indigenous AMF population. However, due to limitations of the applied technique, we couldn’t draw conclusions about the change at species level, but only at ribotypes level.
The AMF inoculant was able to establish in the rhizosphere of both pepper types. According to the Tukey test, mycorrhizal inoculation significantly increased fresh weight of shoots of both variants and highly significantly enhanced dry weights of shoots of spice pepper var. Szegedi. Treated plants exhibited an increase in cumulative crop production compared to controls, mycorrhizal inoculation increased yield of spice pepper var. Szegedi by more than 60% compared to the non-treated control plants. Having relatively high root colonization in the control, non-inoculated treatment indicated high presence of indigenous populations of AMF in the field soil. The effect of seasonality, as a change in the fungal community colonizing the roots of pepper, was also detected using molecular tools. Although the inoculation affected structure of resident AM fungal community, there was no remarkable decrease in AMF species diversity and apparently no deleterious effects connected with aggressiveness as regards native populations of the AMF. However, further research is needed to specify the shift in AMF community and to consider long-term effects of inoculation on maintenance of diversity of the AMF community.

Author Biography

  • Katalin Posta, Szent István University, Plant Protection Institute, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Group, H-2100 Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1.

    corresponding author
    posta.katalin@mkk.szie.hu

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Published

2012-12-10

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Effects of mycorrhizal inoculants on cultivation of two spice pepper types and local arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community. (2012). JOURNAL OF LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY | TÁJÖKOLÓGIAI LAPOK , 10(2), 305-313. https://doi.org/10.56617/tl.3791