SYNTHESIZED ECTOMYCORRHIZAL ASSOCIATIONS Of SOME AUSTRALIAN HERBS AND SHRUBS

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Abstract
The morphology and development of ectomycorrhizas formed by Peziza whitei (Gilkey) Trappe, Labyrinthomyces sp. (Ascomycetes) and Laccaria ohiensis (Mont.) Singer (Basidiomycete) on a range of hosts including Pultenaea obovata Benth., Gompholobium latifolium Sm. (shrubs) and Poranthera microphylla Brongn., Angianthus tomentosus Wendl., Waitzia citrina (Benth.) Steetz and Stylidium graminifolium Sw. ex Willd. (herbs) have been studied in a gnotobiotic system in a soil mix low in available phosphate. The associations formed varied from mycorrhizas with well-defined sheaths enclosing root apices on P. obovata and G. latifolium to less well-defined ones on the herbs, where associations varied from partial sheathing of roots to discrete patches of fungal sheath to no sheath at all in the association A. tomentosus + P. whitei. A Hartig net was formed most associations although L. ohiensis formed none with P. microphylla, A. tomentosus and W. citrina. The results showed that the form of a mycorrhiza depended on both partners, not on the fungus or higher plant alone. All plant-fungus combinations except for A. tomentosus + L. ohiensis showed a significant growth response compared with non-inoculated plants, which indicated mycorrhizal effectiveness, irrespective of mycorrhizal form, in the growth conditions employed.