The main goal of this study was to assess the effect of the inoculation of four autochthonous shrub species with the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Rhizophagus intraradices on the rhizosphere bacterial community and to ascertain whether such an effect is dependent on the host plant species. Additionally, analysis of rhizosphere soil chemical and biochemical properties was performed to find ...

The effect of the flavonoids chrysin, isorhamnetin, kaempferol, luteolin, morin and rutin on pre-symbiotic growth, such as spore germination, hyphal length, hyphal branching and the formation of auxiliary cells and secondary spores, of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Gigaspora rosea, G. margarita, Glomus mosseae and G. intraradices was studied. According to the effect on each fungal growth par...

The establishment of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis results in a modification of the gene expression pattern in both plant and fungus to accomplish the morphological and physiological changes necessary for the bidirectional transfer of nutrients between symbionts. H(+)-ATPase enzymes play a key role establishing the electrochemical gradient required for the transfer of nutrients across th...

The ancient arbuscular mycorrhizal association between the vast majority of plants and the fungal phylum Glomeromycota is a dominant nutritional mutualism worldwide. In the mycorrhizal mutualism, plants exchange photosynthesized carbohydrates for mineral nutrients acquired by fungi from the soil. This widespread cooperative arrangement is broken by 'cheater' plant species that lack the ability ...

Excessive salt accumulation in soil is a major ecological and agronomical problem, especially in arid and semiarid areas. Excessive soil salinity affects the establishment, development and growth of plants, resulting in major losses of production. A pot experiment was set up to examine the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Glomus etunicatum and Glomus versiforme) and salinity on the gro...

The ectoparasitic dagger nematode (Xiphinema index), vector of Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV), provokes gall formation and can cause severe damage to the root system of grapevines. Mycorrhiza formation by Glomus (syn. Rhizophagus) intraradices BEG141 reduced both gall formation on roots of the grapevine rootstock SO4 (Vitis berlandieri×V. riparia) and nematode number in the surrounding soil. Su...

1. While both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and plant and insect genotype are well known to influence plant and herbivore growth and performance, information is lacking on how these factors jointly influence the relationship between plants and their natural herbivores. 2. The aim of the present study was to investigate how a natural community of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affects the grow...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi colonize roots improving plant water status and tolerance to drought. However, it is not clear whether the presence of AM would affect the photosynthesis and antioxidant gene-enzymes response, which help to alleviate drought stress of the host plant. Here, pot experiments were performed to investigate the effects of Rhizophagus irregularis, an AM fungus, on the...

We studied the effect of constitutive expression of pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs) in tobacco plants on vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza. Tobacco lines genetically transformed to express various PRs constitutively under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter of tobacco were examined. Immunoblot analysis and activity measurements demonstrated high levels of expression of th...