A study was conducted to identify suitable arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi for inoculation of Bambusa bambos and Dendrocalamus strictus at nursery stage for increasing growth and productivity. Twelve AM species, isolated from bamboo and other common trees of Bundelkhand were used for inoculations. In B. bambos, total dry weight and phosphorus (P) uptake were significantly increased by all studied fungi and shoot length was increased by eight AM inoculants. Maximum mycorrhizal dependency (MD) was recorded for Acaulospora scrobiculata (44.2%), followed by Glomus cerebriforme (41.6%) and G. intraradix (41.0%). In D. strictus, all tested AM inoculants significantly increased shoot length, dry shoot weight and P uptake, except Glomus 1. Dry root weight was significantly increased by only two inoculants namely, G. cerebriforme and G. etunicatum. Total dry weight was significantly increased by eight AM fungi. Maximum MD was recorded for G. cerebriforme (62.9%), followed by G. diaphanum (55.0%) and G. etunicatum (51.3%). Thus, the results showed that utilization of effective AM fungi can enhance the productivity of bamboo in the region.

Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre, a fast-growing oil-seed-producing tree legume, has the ability to grow on wastelands. It can be utilized for biofuel plantation on such lands. The preconditioning of young seedlings during the early stage of development with efficient arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) confers several benefits enhancing the possibility of their establishment in fields after outplanting from nurseries. However, before recommending these fungi for inoculation, the suitable AMF species must be identified. Therefore, to determine the potential AMF species, 9 purified fungi (isolated from different sites) were tested for their growth promotion activity. The inoculated fungi were not able to increase seedling growth. Some fungi reduced growth, which was attributed to more utilization of carbon by fungal symbiont. Development of fine roots was delayed up to 30 days after sowing and hence their colonization by AMF inoculants. This could be due to the large amount of nutrients stored in cotyledons of large P. pinnata seeds. Removal of cotyledons significantly reduced seedling growth and plants showed some extent of dependency on AMF inoculants. Thus, it was concluded that AMF inoculations should enhance biomass of P. pinnata only after depletion of metabolic reserves in its cotyledons and such mycorrhizal seedlings can be utilized for biofuel plantation.

A study was conducted to identify common arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi present in rhizosphere of Jatropha curcas L., an important bio-diesel crop, from different arid and semi arid regions of India viz., Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Hissar (Haryana), Jhansi and Lalitpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh). A total of 20 AM species were recorded, which consisted of two species of Acaulospora and 18 species of Glomus. The highest frequency of occurrence was recorded for Glomus intraradix (100%), followed by Acaulospora scrobiculata (83%), G. etunicatum (50%) and Glomus 1 (50%). Maximum species richness was recorded at Jodhpur, followed by Jhansi, Hissar, Hyderabad and Lalitpur. The results seem to suggest that species richness was more in arid regions as compared to semi arid areas.Keywords Acaulospora Á Arid and semi arid regions Á Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Á Glomus Á Jatropha curcas Inoculations of Jatropha curcas L., which is gaining importance as bio-diesel plant, with bio-fertilizers including arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have been shown to significantly increase the plant growth and yields under variable conditions. Morphological and biochemical contents of Jatropha plants have been reported to increase significantly after combined microbial inoculations with Azospirillum, Azotobacter, phosphate solubilising bacteria and AM fungi under tropical conditions of Tamil Nadu [1].Early flowering and fruiting in J. curcas has been reported after inoculation of plants with microbial formulations [2].Above-mentioned information is mostly based on commercial formulations involving unidentified AM species and other bio-fertilizers. Studies on effect of inoculation of purified AM cultures, isolated from diverse conditions, on growth of J. curcas could be helpful in realization of full potential of these fungi as bio-fertilizers, as it has been done in many other plant species [3]. To begin with, efforts were made in present study to identify common AM fungi present in rhizosphere of J. curcas from different arid and semi arid regions of India viz., Hissar (Haryana), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Jhansi and Lalitpur (Uttar Pradesh). Pantnagar (Uttaranchal) was also included in this study as occurrence of J. curcas in lower hills is quiet common.The study was conducted at National Research Centre for Agroforestry, Jhansi (24°11 0 N latitude and 78°17 0 E longitudes), Uttar Pradesh, India. A total of 30 samples of rhizosphere soil were collected from above mentioned locations, five from each location during [2007][2008]. Trap cultures were set by mixing different soil samples with autoclaved coarse sand in 1:1 ratio (v/v), separately. The mixture was transferred to 15 cm plastic pots, which were seeded with maize and black-gram and were maintained in green house. After 3-4 months, spore/sporocarps were isolated from the substrate taken from the trap cultures according to the method of Geredmann and Nicolson [4]. AM species were identified by using the keys of Schenck and Perez [5]....

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