Diversity And Infection Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizaes Plants In The Lower Reaches Of Tarim River

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important microorganisms in natural ecosystem. There are distribution differences of AM fungi because of the vegetation types and the environment factors. Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) are the most widespread symbiotic association that formed between plant roots and the AM fungi. Because of its potential influence on ecosystem processes, the role in determining plant diversity in natural communities and the ability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to induce a wide variety of growth responses in coexisting plant species, the research on AM has been much attention.In this paper, we studied the arbuscular mycorrhizal status in the lower reaches of Tarim River. We collected and studied 15 plant species of the natural and non-natural plant communities from the lower reaches of Tarim River. Root samples were cut into 1.0-2.0 cm long pieces, and then surveyed by means of acid stain after the roots were lysised in alkalin solution.It was found that 11 species of plants growing in the lower reaches of Tarim River, were infected by arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) fungi. We also observed the structure ( arbuscule, vesicle and hyphae) of mycorrhizal plants .With deeper research, we found that the colonization rates and colonization intensities of AM fungi were higher in natural plants (84.62%) than non-natural plants, and all the arbor, perennial grass and shrub plants were mycorrhizal plants; annual grass appeared no AM colonization. The plants'colonization rate of AM fungi in Leguminosae was higher than in other species. The introduced plants such as Calligonum junceum and Haloxylon ammodendron appeared no AM colonization. The autumn season is suited for AM fungi growth. The results show that mycorrhizal colonization rate and colonization intensity of AM fungi were different among the different species because that depended on the family and genus their host plants belong to, and the fungi community survival space-time conditions and depth of soil. This is the first work to study the AM fungi in the lower reaches of Tarim River. It is significant work to understanding the ecology and functioning of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in the ecosystems.