The growth characteristics and symbiotic effectiveness of six arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on three soils associated with maize

The mycorrhizal formation,inoculation effectiveness,extraradical fungal biomass and P uptake contribution of six arbuscular mycorrhizal isolates screened from South China,Center China and North China on typical cinnamon soil,brown soil and red soil collected in above three regions were investigated using three-compartment glass-bead culture system associated with maize.The results showed that there were significant differences among fungal species or ecotypes in all above index,which varied with soil types.First,six fungi could colonize maize root on three soils,and the fungal colonization rate was higher on soil collected in the region that had been screened for cinnamon soil and brown soil. On red soil,the fungal colonization rate was lower compared with those on the other soils for the inhibiting effects on spore germination and growth.The fungi BEG168,BEG167,BEG151,BEG221 and BEG141 on cinnamon soil,BEG151 and BEG221 on brown soil as well as BEG168 and BEG150 on red soil significantly improved maize biomass,so they had potential to be used in the area of the soil collected.The inoculation effectiveness of fungi varied with soil types,especially for BEG167.BEG167 performed positively on cinnamon soil,and neutral on brown soil,but negatively on red soil.Except for BEG150 all All other fungi,except BEG150,increased maize P uptake on cinnamon soil and brown soil,however,only BEG168 and BEG 141 improved P uptake significantly on acidic soil.BEG 141 and BEG 167 were wide range ecotypes if regarded fungal extraradical biomass as ecological adaptation index,and followed by BEG168 and BEG151,and BEG150 and BEG221 were narrow range ecotypes.Two ecotypes of Glomus etunicatum BEG168 and BEG221presented differently in edaphic adaptability,the former produced large biomass on two soils instead of one soil of the latter.That indicated that edaphic conditions could alter the growth and symbiotic status of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.