Rice root colonisation by mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi in aerobic soil

• Published in: Annals of applied biology Vol. 154; no. 2; pp. 195 - 204
• Main Authors: Vallino, M, Greppi, D, Novero, M, Bonfante, P, Lupotto, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2009; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell
• Subjects: Aerobic soil; arbuscular mycorrhizae; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; rice (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica); root fungal endophytes; rice (Oryzo sativa ssp. japonica); Monocotyledones; root fungal endophytes; Cereal crop; Fungi; Oryza sativa; Gramineae; Angiospermae; C3-Type; Plant production; Symbiosis; Vegetals; Root; Aerobic soil; Aerobe; Symbiont; arbuscular mycorrhizae; Soils; Endomycorrhiza; Applied biology; Vegetative apparatus; Mycorrhiza; Endophyte; Spermatophyta; Colonization
• ISSN: 0003-4746; 1744-7348
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7348.2008.00286.x

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are ubiquitous root symbionts that form intimate associations with the majority of plants growing in aerobic soil; fungal endophytes live internally, either intercellularly or intracellularly, and asymptomatically within plant tissues. Their presence is correlated with an increased response to biotic and abiotic stress. The populations of AM and of endophytic fungi were studied in the roots of different rice varieties grown in aerobic condition, in experimental fields in Vercelli, North Italy. All the rice varieties resulted colonised by AM fungi with a percentage of arbuscularisation ranging between 4% and 28%. Preliminary molecular analyses on some rice varieties showed that the AM population was composed of fungi identified as Glomus intraradices, on the basis of 18S ribosomal gene. All the varieties analysed but one resulted in colonisation by endophytic fungi. About 300 fungal isolates were obtained, belonging mainly to the genera Neotyphodium, Stagonospora and Penicillium.