In this study we tested whether communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonizing the roots of maize (Zea mays L.) were affected by soil tillage practices (plowing, chiseling, and no-till) in a long-term field experiment carried out in Tänikon (Switzerland). AMF were identified in the roots using specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers that had been developed for the AMF previously isolated from the soils of the studied site. A nested PCR procedure with primers of increased specificity (eukaryotic, then fungal, then AMF species or species-group specific) was used. Sequencing of amplified DNA confirmed that the DNA obtained from the maize roots was of AMF origin. Presence of particular AMF species or species-group was scored as a presence of a DNA product after PCR with specific primers. We also used single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP) of amplified DNA samples to check if the amplification of the DNA from maize roots matched the expected profile for a particular AMF isolate with a given specific primer pair.Presence of the genus Scutellospora in maize roots was strongly reduced in plowed and chiseled soils. Fungi from the suborder Glomineae were more prevalent colonizers of maize roots growing in plowed soils, but were also present in the roots from other tillage treatments. These changes in community of AMF colonizing maize roots might be due to (1) the differences in tolerance to the tillage-induced disruption of the hyphae among the different AMF species, (2) changes in nutrient content of the soil, (3) changes in microbial activity, or (4) changes in weed populations in response to soil tillage. This is the first report on community composition of AMF in the roots of a field-grown crop plant (maize) as affected by soil tillage.

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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) spore communities were surveyed in a long-term field fertilization experiment in Switzerland, where different amounts of phosphorus (P) were applied to soil. Plots receiving no P as well as plots systematically fertilized in excess to plant needs for 31 years were used to test the hypothesis that application of P fertilizer changes the composition and diversity of AMF communities. AMF spores were isolated from the field soil, identified, and counted so as to quantify the effect of P fertilization on AMF spore density, composition, and diversity. Trap cultures were established from field soil with four host plants (sunflower, leek, maize, and Crotalaria grahamiana), and the spore communities were then analyzed in substrate samples from the pots. Altogether, nine AMF species were detected in the soil. No evidence has been acquired for effect of P fertilization on spore density, composition, and diversity of AMF in both the field soil and in trap cultures. On the other hand, we observed strong effect of crop plant species on spore densities in the soil, the values being lowest under rapeseed and highest under Phacelia tanacetifolia covercrop. The identity of plant species in trap pots also significantly affected composition and diversity of associated AMF communities, probably due to preferential establishment of symbiosis between certain plant and AMF species. AMF spore communities under mycorrhizal host plants (wheat and Phacelia in the fields and four host plant species in trap pots) were dominated by a single AMF species, Glomus intraradices. This resulted in exceptionally low AMF spore diversity that seems to be linked to high clay content of the soil.

Reduced tillage can change numerous physico‐chemical properties of soil and the activity of various microorganisms including mycorrhizal and pathogenic soil fungi, and thus influence nutrient uptake by plant roots. We studied the colonization of roots by mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal fungi and nutrient concentrations in plant tops grown during a 3‐yr rotation of maize (Zea mays L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and canola (Brassica napus L.) in two sites in Switzerland where fields have been under three tillage treatments (conventional, CT; chisel plow, CP; and no‐tillage, NT) since 1987. Maize roots were colonized to a greater extent by mycorrhizal fungi with NT than with CP or CT treatments. Wheat roots were equally and weakly colonized by mycorrhizal fungi in all treatments but were relatively heavily (up to 35% of the root length) colonized by several nonmycorrhizal fungi such as Olpidium, Polymyxa, and Gaeumannomyces–Phialophora complex. Canola roots, as expected, were not colonized by any mycorrhizal fungi but were colonized by O. brassicae Reduced tillage intensity altered the concentration of some nutrients in the leaves of mycorrhizal host plants (maize and wheat) but did not change those in nonhost canola. Changes in nutrient concentrations in maize and wheat leaves were likely due to the combined effects of colonization of their roots by various mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal fungi and not to some changes in the physical or chemical properties of soils. Cluster analysis showed that Mn concentration in wheat leaves was closely related to the Gaeumannomyces–Phialophora complex and concentrations of Ca, K, and Zn were related to tillage intensity and to the Polymyxa colonization of roots. We conclude that the colonization of roots by nonmycorrhizal root parasites, and especially by nonfilamentous obligate fungi, need to be taken into account in mycorrhizal studies conducted under field conditions.