African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (11), pp. 429-433, November 2003

Full Length Research Paper

Solanum cultivar responses to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: growth and mineral status

Tahir Abdoulaye DIOP^1,2*, Tatiana KRASOVA-WADE^1,2, Alioune DIALLO^1,2, Meïssa DIOUF³, Mamadou GUEYE²

¹Département de Biologie Végétale, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, BP 5005, Sénégal.

²Laboratoire de Microbiologie des Sols, Centre de Recherches ISRA/IRD, BP 1386, Dakar Sénégal.

³Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles/CDH, BP 3120 – Dakar, Sénégal.

*Corresponding author. E.mail: Tahir.Diop@ird.sn.

Accepted 17 October 2003

A greenhouse experiment was carried out in a sandy soil with a low available phosphorus to evaluate responsiveness of four Solanum aethiopicum cultivars to indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Results showed clear interaction between genetic variability of cultivars and fungal isolates on shoot biomass and on mineral status. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can be ranked as Glomus aggregatum > Glomus mosseae > Glomus versiforme for improving yield as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium acquisition of Solanum cultivars.

Key words: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Solanum aethiopicum, sterile soil, relative mycorrhizal dependency.