Isolation and identification of desert habituated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi newly reported from the Arabian Peninsula

Sarah Symanczik, Janusz Błaszkowski, Sally Koegel, Thomas Boller, Andres Wiemken, Mohamed N. Al-Yahya'Ei

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    21 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known to facilitate the growth and vigour of many plants, particularly in arid ecosystems. In a survey of AMF in a date palm plantation and two natural sites of a desert in Oman, we generated many single spore-derived cultures of AMF. We identified a number of these isolates based on spore morphotyping and molecular phylogenetic analysis using the sequence of the LSU-rDNA. Here, we presented the characteristics of four species of AMF recovered, namely Claroideoglomus drummondii, Diversispora aurantia, Diversispora spurca and Funneliformis africanum. The four species have been described previously, but for the Arabian Peninsula they are reported here for the first time. Our endeavor of isolation and characterization of some AMF habituated to arid sites of Arabia represents a first step towards application for environmental conservation and sustainable agriculture in this region.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)488-497
    Number of pages10
    JournalJournal of Arid Land
    Volume6
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2014

    Keywords

    • Arabian Peninsula
    • Oman
    • arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
    • biotechnology
    • characterization
    • desert ecosystem
    • isolation

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Water Science and Technology
    • Earth-Surface Processes
    • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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