Isolation and characterization of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi from the rhizospheric soil of some medicinal plants

Abstract

Author(s): DhritimanChanda and Madhumita Dey

The present investigation was carried out to estimate the colony forming units of indigenous fungi and to study the diversity and Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM)of some medicinal plants.The study was also aimed to estimate and isolate the Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) spore population from the rhizospheric soil of some important medicinal plants from the Botanical garden of College campus. All theselectedmedicinal plants i.e., Menthasp. Ocimum sanctum, Bryophyllumsp. Adhatoda vasica, and Andrographis paniculata showeda very good diversity of rhizospheric soil fungi. The highest number of Colony forming unit (c.f.u) was estimated in Menthasp (162/10-1) followed by Bryophyllumsp.(156/10-1), Andrographis paniculata (91/10-1), Adhatoda vasica (72/10-1) andOcimum sanctum (68/10-1). Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) spore population was also estimated in all the medicinal plants. The higest number of AM spores was estimated in Andrographis paniculata (121/50gm-1) followed byOcimum sanctum(112/50gm-1), Adhatoda vasica (94/50gm-1), Bryophyllumsp.(89/50gm-1) andMenthasp (75/ 50gm-1).The rhizospheric soil fungal diversity including mycorrhizal fungi (Glomussp.) alsowas found tobe beneficial for increasing the photosynthetic activity and uptake of phosphorus in medicinal plants. Thus, the use of AM inoculum can increase the yield of medicinal plants along with their secondary metabolites to utilize on a sustainable basis as a traditional and herbal medicine for the human welfare.