Effects of mycorrhization on the micropropagated banana during the latest stages of development under commercial fertilization [electronic resource].

Includes references.

The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on the micro propagated banana during the latest stages of development and with fertilizer regimes similar to those practiced in commercial . crops were studied. Plants were tested at three different stages of formation: acclimatization, nursery and micro plot. Two commercial cultivars of banana (Musa sp. cv. Williams and Grand naine) were inoculated during hardening off. Each cultivar was inoculated with one of two AM fungi (Glomus mosseae a:1d G. manihotis) for evaluation of inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi on plant development, the mycorrhizal dependency under the fixed conditions of fertilizer inputs and mycorrhizal colonization. At nursery phase, the same parameters were evaluated. At micro plot phase, fresh weight of roots and aerial parts, numbers of suckers, numbers of leaves, leaf area, N, P and K content, and dependency for mycorrhizal were determinate. By completion of the rooting stage, both cultivars showed a positive response to the both AM fungi used for inoculation and the relative mycorrhizal dependency (RMD) of both cultivars was the highest throughout the trial. Following transplanting, inoculated plants of both cultivars, the majority of experimental variables were significantly different for both cultivars in comparison with the controls and root colonization of banana plants by mycorrhizae tended to differ depending on the cultivar. After nine months in microplot conditions and a standard fertilizer regime, banana plants inoculated with Glomus manihotis usually, particularly with cv. 'Grand naine', showed a beneficial effect of symbiosis on plant development. However, data on macronutrients (N, P and K) although noticeably higher, did not differ statistically. At the end of this phase, root colonization by both Glomus species was relatively important in both cultivars (greater than 79%).

Summary in Arabic.

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