Effects Of Mycorrhizal Inocula On Ornamental Plants In Yanling

Microbial fertilizers can increase plant nutrient supply and promote the survival and growth of plants through the activities of specific beneficial microorganisms.The development of efficacious microbial fertilizers,as alternatives to chemical fertilizers,is critically important to reduce soil pollution by excessive application of chemical fertilizers and to improve the quality and sustainability of environments.However,microbial fertilizers specifically effective to ornamental plants are still not commercially available.As one group of the most widely distributed and functionally important soil symbiotic microorganisms,arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi(AMF)are proved to enhance the nitrogen and phosphorus supply to the majority of flower plants through improving root development,branch growth and disease resistance,an therefore have the potential to be the ideal functional microbes for developing special microbial fertilizers to be sued in gardening industry.In this study,the effects of AMF inocula on common ornamental plants in Yanling,China was experimentally examined in order to evaluate the potential to develop AMF based microbial fertilizers for gardening industry.Six common ornamental plants in Yanling including Trifolium repens,Zinnia elegans,Tagetes erecta,Callistephus chinensis,Dianthus plumarius and Silene pendula were selected as target plants.The AMF inocula being tested came from three common grassland plants Leymus chinensis(LC),Agropyron cristatum(AC)and Artemisia frigida(AF).Through examining the performance of target plants being inoculated with different AMF inocula,this study found:(1)AMF inocula formed symbiotic relationship with all ornamental plants tested in greenhouse and increased the survival rate of non-Dianthus plants.There was no significant difference in mycorrhizal colonization rates among target plants.(2)The growth promotion of AMF inocula varied among target plants.AMF inoculum originated from LC had the most significant increase in the biomass of T.repens,Z.elegans and T.erecta,while AMF from AC had the most significant positive effect on the growth of C.chinensis.AMF inocula did not show significant effect on the biomass of Dianthus plants.(3)Different AMF inocula had different effects on the photosynthesis of target plants.AMF originated from AC had the most significant positive effect on the photosynthesis of T.repens and T.erecta,and had the most significant negative effect on the photosynthesis of Dianthus flowers.AMF inoculant from AF had little effect on the photosynthesis of all target plants.