Investigation on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal colonization on the roots of some members of Fabaceae and selection of suitable hosts for mass multiplication of VAM

Leguminous plants are the very good hosts of both the root symbionts viz. vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi as well as rhizobium bacteria and exhibit a very good deal of tri -partite symbiotic relationship. Thus, leguminous plants may well be served as exceptionally good host resource for mass multiplication of AM fungi. Keeping this view in mind, in this present investigation, 30 species of legu minous plants were studied to determine the colonization frequency of VAM fungi in their roots and rhizospheric soil. It was observed that all the 30 plant species were colonized by VAM fungi. Though there appeared a significant variation in root colonizat ion (%). Among all the plants studied, Arachis hypogea showed highest percentage of colonization (94%) by VAM and the lowest colonization frequency was recorded in Desmodium gangeticum(10%). In legumes, mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen fixing bacteria are t he beneficial components of which contribute to plant growth, provide nutrients (N, P, K u0026 others), inhibit phyto -pathogens and improve drought tolerance. Thus, the legumes with high to very high level of VAM colonization can be used as very efficient biol ogical tool for mass multiplication of AM fungi as well as for restoration of degraded lands.