COLONIZATION OF PEACH ROOTSTOCKS BY INDIGENOUS VESICULAR-ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL (VAM) FUNGI

Six-month-old seedling rootstocks of peach cultivars Siberian C, Bailey and Harrow Blood, and mature trees in a 4-yr-old orchard which was planted with rootstock cultivars Siberian C, Bailey, Harrow Blood, Chui Lum Tao, Tzim Pee Tao, Lovell, Halford, H7338013, H7338016 and H7338019 grafted with scion cultivar Redhaven, were rated for colonization by indigenous vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi after growth in a local sandy soil. Feeder roots of all the rootstocks were heavily colonized. However, no significant differences between the cultivars were observed with respect to percentage of root lengths colonized under these field conditions. Fungi identified on the basis of spore extraction from soil around colonized roots included G. aggregatum, G. mosseae, G. tortuosum, Scutellospora aurigloba, and S. calospora.Key words: Intraspecific receptivity, endomycorrhizae, Prunus persica