Effect of different strains of mycorrhizal fungus on some root traits in Alfalfa, Medicago sativa L.

Study of rhizosphere is important in sustainable crop production. Mycorrhizal fungus are one of the most important microorganisms in rhizosphere, that has key function in sustainability of agroecosystems through symbiosis with plants root. In order to investigation the effect of different strains of mycorrhizae on alfalfa root traits, a pot experiment with five treatments including Glomus mosseae, G. etanicatum, G. intraradices, combination of G. mosseae, Gigaspora hartiga and G. fasciculatum strains and a control at four replications was conducted in 006. The roots were washed with tap water after harvesting of shoots. Root traits such as root dry matter, root length, mycorrhizal colonization based on grid line intersect method, total dry weight of mycorrhizal root and root length to root dry weight ratio were measured. Results of analysis of variance indicated that different strains had significant effect on colonization index, so that G. mosseae had the most amount of colonization. Different strains had significant differences in concentration of P, Zn and K in plants and G. mosseae had more uptake and translocation ability of P, Zn and K than others.