Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) establishing efficient symbiosis with plants play an important role on ecosystem sustainability and can be useful for revegetation of degraded lands. Symbiotic efficiency is related to AMF genotypes and plant species, as well as to environmental conditions that may affect the expression of symbiotic relationships. Thus, the first step to an efficient AMF symbiosis management is to study fungal variability regarding the efficiency with different host species. In this study root colonization and efficiency of several […]

Revegetation with tree species is an appropriate strategy for the rehabilitation of degraded areas. However, the establishment and growth of these species in low nutrient soils depends upon several factors, such as the ability of the species to form and benefit from mycorrhizae. In this study, conducted in pots under greenhouse conditions at the Federal University of Lavras in Minas Gerais, Brazil, aspects of host-fungus relationship in tree species found in Southeastern Brazil were evaluated. The following arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) […]

An experiment was carried out under green house conditions to evaluate the effects of the inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), associated with the addition of formononetin (5, 10 µ mol L1), quercetin and morin (5, 10 and 15 µ mol L1), on the growth and nutrient content of passion fruit plants in the phase of seedlings cultivated in sterile substrate and after transplanting to a non-sterile substrate. The fungi utilized were Glomus clarum (Gc), Glomus fasciculatum (Gf) and a […]

The excess of heavy metals contaminating soils is responsible for a negative impact on microorganisms and toxicity on plants, hence turning revegetation and rehabilitation of areas degraded by these metals very difficult. In the present study, the effects of the isoflavonoid formononetin (7 hydroxy 4’methoxy isoflavona) on growth and metal uptake by corn (Zea mays L.) were studied in soil-mixes with increasing proportions of a contaminated soil with 16.904; 194; 219 and 836 mg dm-3 of soil of Zn, Cd, […]

This work was undertaken at the State University of North Fluminense (UENF), State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under greenhouse conditions, in the first semester of 1996, to evaluate the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the process of nitrogen transfer from bean to maize plants using the isotope 15N. Special pots divided in three sections (A, B and C), were constructed and either no barrier and a nylon mesh screen (40 ∝m) (which allowed the AMF hyphae to […]