A 45-day greenhouse experiment was carried out to determine effect of vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal fungi on colonization rate, plant height, plant growth, hyphae length, total Al in the plants, exchangeable Al in the soil and soil pH by comparison at soil pH 3.5, 4.5 and 6.0. Plant mung bean (Phaseolus radiatus L.) and crotalaria (Crotalaria mucronata Desv.) were grown with and without VA mycorrhizal fungi in pots with red soil. Ten VA mycorrhizal fungi strains were tested, including Glomus epigaeum (No. 90001), Glomus caledonium (No. 90036), Glomus mosseae (No. 90107), Acaulospora spp. (No. 34), Scutellospora heterogama (No. 36), Scutellospora calospora (No. 37), Glomus manihotis (No. 38), Gigaspora spp. (No. 47), Glomus manihotis (No. 49), and Acaulospora spp. (No. 53). Being the most tolerant to acidity, strain 34 and strain 38 showed quicker and higher-rated colonization without lagging, three to four times more in number of nodules, two to four times more in plant dry weight, 30% to 60% more in hyphae length, lower soil exchangeable Al, and higher soil pH than without VA mycorrhizal fungi (CK). Other strains also could improve plant growth and enhance plant tolerance to acidity, but their effects were not marked. This indicated that VA mycorrhizal fungi differed in the tolerance to soil acidity and so did their inoculation effects. In the experiment, acidic soil could be remedied by inoculation of promising VA mycorrhizal fungi tolerant of acidity.
LIN XIANGUI, WANG SHUGUANG and SHI YAQIN Institute of Soil Science, the Chinese Academy of Soil Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)
