Evaluation of the potential of trap plants to detect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis

Figures & data

Table 1 Colonization, external hyphae density and spore production of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, as influenced by different trap plants

Trap plants	Colonization (%)	External hyphae density (cm g^−1 dry substrate)	Spore number (kg^−1 dry substrate)
Sorghum	68.6 ± 3.4	61.8 ± 1.7 cd	1149 ± 41 b
Clover	59.8 ± 3.4	46.0 ± 1.7 b	1061 ± 149 b
Maize	56.3 ± 3.9	29.8 ± 3.0 a	3936 ± 126 d
Sorghum/clover	60.0 ± 6.2	54.3 ± 1.3 bc	225 ± 27 a
Maize/sorghum	54.5 ± 2.4	53.4 ± 2.5 bc	1007 ± 37 b
Clover/maize	58.9 ± 3.8	54.5 ± 1.3 bcd	2173 ± 187 c
Maize/clover/sorghum	58.7 ± 3.2	63.2 ± 1.1 d	6073 ± 123 e
Values are presented as mean ± standard error. Values followed by the same letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05; Tukey’s multiple range test). For colonization, a statistical analysis was not carried out because both the plant species and root density differed among the treatments.

Figure 1 PCR-DGGE profiles of AM fungal communities recovered from the native soil (A), colonized roots (B∼H) and pot substrates (I∼O). Trap plants included sorghum (B, I), clover (C, J), maize (D, K), sorghum/clover (E, L), maize/sorghum (F, M), clover/maize (G, N), maize/clover/sorghum (H, O).

Table 2 Shannon–Weiner’s diversity index and species richness of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the roots and pot media of different trap plants, as revealed by the band patterns in the polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profile

Trap plants	Diversity index		Species richness
	Roots	Pot media	Roots	Pot media
Sorghum	1.36	1.96	4	8
Clover	0.76	1.81	3	7
Maize	1.74	1.93	6	9
Sorghum/clover	1.33	1.87	4	8
Maize/sorghum	1.54	2.02	6	9
Clover/maize	1.41	2.05	5	10
Maize/clover/sorghum	1.45	2.30	5	11
Native soil	2.24

Table 3 Sorenson’s pairwise similarity values between the native soil and the trap plant combinations on the basis of polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities

Trap plant combinations	Roots	Pot substrates
Sorghum	0.43	0.67
Clover	0.46	0.82
Maize	0.75	0.84
Sorghum/clover	0.43	0.78
Maize/sorghum	0.50	0.84
Clover/maize	0.53	0.80
Maize/clover/sorghum	0.67	0.86

Figure 2 Dendrogram using average linkage (between groups) according to the Cs calculated on the basis of PCR-DGGE profiles of AM fungal communities in the native soil (A) and in colonized roots (B∼H) or pot substrate (I∼O) of different trap plants. Trap plants included sorghum (B, I), clover (C, J), maize (D, K), sorghum/clover (E, L), maize/sorghum (F, M), clover/maize (G, N), maize/clover/sorghum (H, O).