To determine the degree of variability among the host plant species in their abilities to become colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), the inoculum for AMF was collected from the various sites in Korea and was inoculated to the three horticultural plants; Tagetes patula, Torenia fournieri, and Salvia splendens. After 4-month growth under greenhouse, mycorrhizal root colonization rates and spore density were measured. The roots of T. patula showed higher colonization rate than both plants of T. fournieri and Salvia splendens. The mycorrhizal root colonization was influenced by both of the AM fungal inoculum and the host species or their interactions. The combination of the host and fungal species was suggested to be important for the application of AMF to horticultural crops.
Colon ; Fungi ; Korea ; Plants ; Salvia ; Spores ; Tagetes

To investigate the growth response of various crop species to mycorrhizal inoculation, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were applied to Glycine max, Vigna angularis, Senna tora, Hordeum vulgare var. hexastichon. Zea mays, Sorghum bicolor, Allium tuberosum, Solanum melongena, and Capsicum annuum. The biomass of the inoculated crops was measured every two weeks for the 12-week growth period. By measuring biomass, we calculated the mycorrhizal responsiveness of the nine crop species. Among the nine crop species, four species showed a significant response to mycorrhizal inoculation. The shoot biomasses of V. angularis, C. annuum, A. tuberosum, and S. tora significantly increased with mycorrhizal inoculation.
Biomass ; Capsicum ; Chive ; Fungi ; Hordeum ; Solanum melongena ; Sorghum ; Soybeans ; Zea mays

This study examined the effects of myristate on an asymbiotic culture of Rhizoglomus intraradices, a species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF; Glomeromycota). Mycelial growth and sporulation in a modified medium containing myristate were observed. The findings demonstrated that myristate induced R. intraradices spore formation, with daughter spores having a smaller diameter than the parent spores. This observation is consistent with previous studies on other Rhizoglomus species. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential for continuous culture, mass production using daughter spores, and the application of AMF colonization techniques in plants.

Fungi of the genus Tuber are ectomycorrhizal fungi that form a symbiotic relationship mainly with oak and hazel trees. Tuber spp. exhibit a highly selective host plant preference; thus, for cultivation purposes it is important to select an appropriate host plant for successful mycorrhization. In addition, as mycorrhizal characteristics differ according to Tuber spp., it is necessary to understand the differences in mycorrhizae according to the fungal species. Tuber huidongense and Tuber himalayense were recently discovered in Korea; therefore, we used spore suspensions from these two species to inoculate two species of oak trees, Quercus acutissima and Quercus dentata, to compare colonization rates and morphologies of the mycorrhizae. The colonization rates demonstrated that the different Tuber spp. favored different host plant species. In addition, unique morphological and anatomical characteristics were observed for T. huidongense and T. himalayense depending on the host species. These findings can lead to new economically important agricultural activities related to truffle cultivation in Korea.

Members of the genus Tuber are ectomycorrhizal fungi; this genus includes more than 180 species worldwide. In the present study, the optimal pH, temperature, and medium suitable for the mycelial growth of the Korean truffle, Tuber koreanum, were determined. Mycelium of T. koreanum, isolated from fruiting bodies collected in Korea, was used to investigate the effects of these environmental factors. The results showed that malt extract agar and potato dextrose agar were the most suitable for the mycelial growth of T. koreanum when cultured at a pH of 6.0 at 25 C for 30 days.

Endophytic fungi occupy various ecological niches, which reinforces their diversity. As few studies have investigated the endophytic fungi of alpine conifers, we focused on four species of alpine conifers in this study—Abies nephrolepis, Pinus pumila, Taxus cuspidata var. nana, and Thuja koraiensis—and examined them for endophytic fungi. A total of 108 endophytic fungi were isolated. There were four taxa in A. nephrolepis, 12 in P. pumila, 18 in T. cuspidata var. nana, and 17 in T. koraiensis; these were divided into five classes: Agaricomycetes (3.2%), Dothideomycetes (29.0%), Leotiomycetes (15.0%), Sordariomycetes (41.9%), and Orbiliomycetes (1.6%). The most prevalent fungi were Sydowia polyspora (22.7%) and Xylariaceae sp. (22.7%) in P. pumila, Phomopsis juglandina (16.1%) in T. cuspidata var. nana, and Thuja-endophytes sp. 1 (70.0%) in T. koraiensis. However, there was no dominant species growing in A. nephrolepis. Some host plants were analyzed using next-generation sequencing. We obtained 4618 reads for A. nephrolepisand 2268 reads for T. koraiensis. At the genus level, the top three endophytic fungi were Ophiostomataceae_uc (64.6%), Nectriaceae_uc (15.5%), and unclassified organism (18.0%) in A. nephrolepis and Nectriaceae_uc (41.9%), Ophiostomataceae_uc (41.8%), and Magnaporthaceae_uc (9.2%) in T. koraiensis. Our results show that there are different communities of endophytic fungi among different host plants, even if the host plants are in the same region. Such ecological niches are important in terms of the ecological restoration of alpine conifers.

Four arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) inocula collected from three arable sites in Korea were used to determine plant growth, mycorrhizal root colonization rate and spore production in three different host plant species; Sorghum bicolor, Allium fistulosum, Tagetes patula. Growth of plant treated with AMF differed from those without AMF. Different AMF inocula showed significantly different root colonization rates and spore production of AMF on the wild plants, A. fistulosum and T. patula, but did not on the cultivated plant, S. bicolor. Results suggested that indigenous mycorrhizal fungal community would be important factors in mycorrhizal symbiosis, and play important roles in the plant succession.
Allium ; Colon* ; Korea ; Mycorrhizae* ; Plants* ; Soil* ; Sorghum ; Spores ; Symbiosis ; Tagetes

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous in the rhizosphere and form symbiotic relationships with most terrestrial plant roots. In this study, four strains of Rhizophagus clarus were cultured and variations in their growth characteristics owing to functional diversity and resultant effects on host plant were investigated. Growth characteristics of the studied R. clarus strains varied significantly, suggesting that AMF retain high genetic variability at the intraspecies level despite asexual lineage. Furthermore, host plant growth response to the R. clarus strains showed that genetic variability in AMF could cause significant differences in the growth of the host plant, which prefers particular genetic types of fungal strains. These results suggest that the intraspecific genetic diversity of AMF could be result of similar selective pressure and may be expressed at a functional level.
Fungi ; Genetic Variation ; Plant Roots ; Plants ; Rhizosphere

Fungal endophytes are microfungi that live in plants without causing apparent symptoms of infection. This study was conducted to identify endophytic fungi isolated from leaves of coniferous trees in Bohyeon Mountain of Korea. We collected leaves of two species of coniferous trees, Pinus densiflora and Pinus koraiensis, from 11 sites in the study area. A total 58 isolates were obtained and identified using molecular and morphological characteristics. Four species of endophytic fungi were isolated from P. densiflora: Lophodermium conigenum, Leotiomycetes sp., Septoria pini-thunbergii, and Polyporales sp., while two fungal species were isolated from P. koraiensis: Eurotiomycetes sp. and Rhytismataceae sp. The most frequently isolated species were L. conigenum and S. pini-thunbergii.
Coniferophyta ; Endophytes ; Fungi ; Korea ; Needles ; Pinus ; Polyporales ; Trees

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of foliar endophytic fungi and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on plant community structure in experimental microcosms containing an assemblage of five species of plants (Oenothera odorata, Plantago asiatica, Trifolium repens, Isodon japonicas and Aster yomena). Leaves of Sasa borealis, Potentilla fragarioides, and Viola mandshurica were collected in Chungbuk, Korea. Endophytic fungi were isolated from the surface sterilized leaves and identified to species level using molecular and morphological techniques. Four isolates of the endophytic fungi were inoculated to the leaves of host plants in the microcosms. Also, three species of AMF spores were extracted from pure cultures and the mixture of the three species inoculated to the roots of the plants. After four months of growth in a green house, effects of both symbiotic fungi on plant species diversity, community composition and productivity were examined. The plant species diversity showed significant differences with inoculation of the symbiotic fungi. Results indicate that AMF significantly affect plant productivity and plant community structure.
Chungcheongbuk-do ; Efficiency ; Endophytes ; Fungi* ; Isodon ; Korea ; Mycorrhizae ; Plantago ; Plants* ; Potentilla ; Sasa ; Spores ; Trifolium ; Viola