Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Growth and Yield of Cucumber Plants

Abstract

In two pot experiments, cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Jinlu No. 3) seedlings were each inoculated with one of three arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), Glomus mosseae, Glomus intraradices, or Glomus versiforme, or uninoculated. Seedling growth and weight of single fruit were investigated. The results indicated that growth of seedlings was significantly enhanced by G. mosseae, inhibited by G. versiforme, and not significantly influenced by G. intraradices. The dry weight of seedlings inoculated with G. mosseae was 1.2 times its counterparts. The concentrations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in roots and magnesium (Mg), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) concentration in shoots were increased by inoculating the three AMF, and potassium (K) and iron (Fe) concentrations in shoots decreased significantly. The weights of single fruit of plants preinoculated with G. mosseae and G. versiforme were about 1.4 and 1.3 times higher than those from the uninoculated treatment, respectively.

Keywords:

• Cucumber
• G. intraradices
• G. mosseae
• G. versiforme
• growth response of seedlings
• weight of single fruit

Acknowledgments

We thank researcher Mei Qing Zhang for kindly providing the original inocular, and we are also grateful to Professor Xiao Lin Li for his valuable suggestions. This research was supported by the Research Foundation of Education Bureau of Heilongjiang Province (No. 11511299) and the Youth Fund from HeiLongJiang University (No. QL200530).