Plant growth and physiological response of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) were studied in controlled environment using normal soil and indigenous Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) fungi treated soil. The seedlings of Zea mays were inoculated with Giguspora species of VAM (Glomus fasiculatum) and the inoculum was multiplied with help of Zeamays seed bed. Sesame seeds were then inoculated into the bed and it was found that the plant height, shoots lengths, roots, biomass of shoot and roots were considerably increased in the mycorrhizal plants. The effect of VAM infection was assessed in pot experiment. In this comparative study, specific mycorrhizal fungi had consistent effects on various growth parameters such as the number of leaves, number of roots, shoot length, biomass of shoot and roots and biochemical parameters were observed at various time intervals by statistical analysis using two way ANOVA, it was confined with mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal infected plants. It was found that the ability of isolates to maintain the plant growth effectively in the case of mycorrhizal seedlings shows a maximum absorbtion of 0.77 ±0.2, shoot length is about 8.34 ±0.2, count of root and leaves are about 8.10 ±0.3, 5.6 ±0.3 respectively under mycorrhizal infection in 30days of analysis and had a positive effect on the growth at all intervals. Biochemical analysis were carried out to estimate the total chlorophyll, chrophyll A, chlorophyll B and Carotenoids contents and it was analyzed to be 9 ±0.5 mg/g, 8.3 ±0.5 mg/g, 3.6 ±0.5 mg/g, 4 ±0.3 mg/g respectively. At the 30th day of analysis for the mycorrhizal plants, it was found to be high in mycorrhizal seedlings which shows the symbiosis had improved the nutrient uptake of cultivated plants. Nevertheless G. fasiculatum was found to be the most efficient fungus and exhibited the highest levels of mycorrhizal colonization, as well as the greatest stimulation of physiological parameters.
PLANT GROWTH RESPONSES TO VESICULAR-ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZA. IX. INTERACTIONS BETWEEN VA MYCORRHIZA, ROCK PHOSPHATE AND SYMBIOTIC NITROGEN FIXATION
