DIVERSITY OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH CAROB TREES (Ceratonia siliqua L.) IN WESTERN ALGERIA
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Date
2020-07-03
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Plant Cell Biotechnology and Molecular Biology
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The carob tree is a leguminous plant originating in the Mediterranean region. It is used in many
reforestation and ornamentation programs. The aim of this study is to characterize the diversity of
AMF associated with the carob tree and the importance of their role in the integration of a semiarid
ecosystem in Western Algeria. Samples of soil and roots in the rhizosphere of ten carob
specimen were taken in different areas in the northwest of Algeria: Hassasna, Nedroma and Ouled
Mimoun. Physicochemical analyses were carried out as well as enumeration and morphological and
anatomical analyses of the spores. The roots were trypan blue- dyed to determine the level of
mycorrhization. The results showed that the soil of Ouled Mimoun is the richest of the three sites in
organic matter, and contains the largest proportion of nitrogen and available phosphorus. It also
has the largest spore count: 641 per 100 g of soil. Furthermore, the study revealed the presence of 16
morphotypes of AMF spores in all three sites, Glomus and Acaulospora genera being the most
abundant. Likewise, microscopic observation of the roots revealed the presence of all the structures
typical of AMF including vesicles, hyphae and arbuscular structures. The level of mycorrhization in
the roots sampled in Ouled Mimoun was the highest with a mycorrhization frequency of F=94%, an
intensity of M=44% and an arbuscular rate of A=94%. The mycorrhizal abundance and high
infectivity of the carob roots taken in the site of O.Mimoun, an old plantation site, reflect the
physicochemical characteristics of a fertile and more lively soil, in particular its organic carbon and
nitrogen content. Another explanation may be that indigenous AMF communities, apparently more
resilient and better adapted to the edaphic conditions, have gradually replaced the fungi introduced.