Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are the key factor for the growth of plants in nature. In the present study, 10 common invasive plant species and one native dominant tree species Tectona grandis were selected to understand the colonization pattern of AMF in the roots. Rhizosphere soil and root samples of selected invasive plant species were taken from the Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest of Belgahna Range of Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh. The roots were observed under a microscope followed by clearing with KOH and staining with lactophenol cotton blue. In all invasive plant species and in T. grandis, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization was more than 85% (89.00 ± 1.70 to 97.70 ± 0.88). All three morphological types of AM colonization, i.e., Arum-type, Paris-type, and Intermediate-type were observed in all samples. The shape of vesicles ranged from irregular to rounded shape. Different intra-radical vesicles’ sizes and shapes suggested that different species of AM fungus had colonized roots. In most of the samples, vesicles were mostly irregular in shape, elliptical, oval, spherical, and rectangular, indicating the dominance of Acualospora spp. and Glomus spp. The present study, regarding the occurrence of AM fungi in 10 invasive plants and 1 native plant T. grandis will provide basic information on the diversity of AM colonization patterns, which may be utilized to understand the interaction between AMF and invasive plant’s roots. The similarity in colonization patterns in invasive and native species shows that AMF association may be one of the reasons for the existence and proliferation in the Tropical Forest of the Central region.

Key words: Invasive plant; Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; AM morphotype, Vesicles and Arbuscules