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Diversity of
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Camellia sinensis in
Uttarakhand State, India
Rajan Kumar Gupta* and Chitra Sharma
Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory, Department of Botany,
Government Post Graduate College, Rishikesh-249201 (Dehradun),
Uttarakhand, India.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
rajankgupta1@rediffmail.com.
Accepted 2 July, 2010 |
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Many microorganisms form symbioses with plants that range on
a continuous scale, from parasitic to mutualistic. Among
these, the most widespread mutualistic symbionts is the
arbuscular mycorrhiza, formed between arbuscular mycorrhizal
(AM) fungi and vascular flowering plants and other plants. A
study of diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in
Camellia sinensis was conducted in four plantation
territories of Uttarakhand. Microscopic analysis of the
mycorrhizal status of roots has revealed that samples from
all four locations belonged only to AM fungi. The
mycorrhizal colonization level was found high thus
reflecting the mycotrophic nature of C. sinensis (L.).
Results of isolation and identification of spores
from all field-collected soil samples has revealed
relatively higher spore count. All recovered spores were
found to belong to the Glomales Order, represented by
Glomaceae family. Isolation has also brought into notice
that three groups were dominant: the first one included
light yellow colored spores, second, corresponded dark
yellow-brown colored spores and third, magenta colored
spores. The morphological characters indicated that the
spore populations consisted of 3 – 6 morphotypes. The
Glomus genus was represented by three species; that is,
Glomus mossae, Glomus fasciculatum, Glomus sp.
1 (an unidentified species).
Key words:
Glomus mossae, Glomus fasciculatum, Mycorrhiza,
Camillia sinensis. |
