Abstract:
In the present study, the effect of two species of
AMF,
Glomus mosseae
and
Glomus
intraradices
, alone and in combination, was evaluated on the gr
owth criteria, chlorophyll
content, and root rot disease caused by
Fusarium solani
f. sp.
pisi
, on chickpea (
Cicer
arietinum
L.) under greenhouse conditions. Chickpea seeds we
re sown into pots
containing 100 g of AMF inoculum (more than 1,000 p
ropagules g
-1
) and, after four
weeks, root of seedlings were inoculated with conid
ia suspension (10
6
conidia mL
-1
) of
F.
solani
f. sp.
pisi
. Six weeks after pathogen inoculation, shoot and r
oot dry weight, shoot
height, chlorophyll content and mycorrhizal and
Fusarium
colonization were measured.
Results showed that inoculation of
G. mosseae
was more effective than
G. intraradices
and
dual inoculations (
G. intraradices
+
G. mosseae
) on the above criteria. Inoculation of
F.
solani
f. sp.
pisi
without AMF treatments reduced shoot height, shoot
and root dry weight,
and chlorophyll content significantly compared with
the control. In the presence of AMF,
root colonization by
F. solani
f. sp.
pisi
and disease severity decreased and individual
inoculation with
G. mosseae
was more effective than the other treatments. Inoc
ulation of
G. mosseae
and
G. intraradices
caused a significant increase in plant height, sho
ot and root
dry weight, and chlorophyll content of pathogen-ino
culated plants compared with
inoculated chickpea plants with
F. solani
f. sp.
pisi.
Based on the results, application of
G.
mosseae
was found to be the best for reducing the root rot
disease and improving plant
growth parameters of chickpea, followed by
G. intraradices
and dual inoculations.
Keywords
: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi,
Cicer arietinum
,
Plant growth parameters, Soil
borne plant diseases.
