The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation to growth and survivability of micropropagated Eucalyptus pellita and Acacia crassicarpa in nursery

Abstract

Inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi into micropropagated Eucalyptus pellita and Acacia crassicarpa, that may have poor root structures, was conducted. The study aimed to investigate the effects of Acaulospora sp., Acaulospora tuberculata, Entrophospora sp., Gigaspora sp., and two different isolates of Glomus maculosum inoculations on the growth parameters of 21-days old plantlets of Eucalyptus pellita and Acacia crassicarpa. After 120 days of acclimatization in the nursery, E. pellita seems to be more responsive to mycorrhizal inoculation than A. crassicarpa. The survival rate of E. pellita was almost three times of the control. Although there was no significant difference between treatments, inoculation of Glomus maculosum RD.1.5.1 and Acaulospora sp. GB.10.A2 showed the highest impact on plant height (54-56 cm), stem diameter (4.3-4.4 mm), and root dry-weight (2.03-2.05 gr) of E. pellita; and Entrophospora sp. RB.10.3.1 on plant height, stem diameter, and root dry-weight of A. crassicarpa (41.46 cm, 2.96 mm, and 1.34 gr, respectively). This study also revealed that the benefits of AM fungi association were not always related to the level of root colonization.