Influence of mycorrhizal fungi on the growth and development of sandy everlasting Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench.

Abstract

A b s t r a c tThe significance of root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi for the growth and development of Helichrysum arenarium was investigated in two independent experiments. In the first experiment the association of root colonization level with the pluviothermal conditions within the growing season and the age of a natural plant population was analyzed. In the second one, under controlled conditions, the influence of artificial inoculation with the arbuscular fungus Glomus intraradices on the features of plants raised from achenes was studied. It was shown that hydrothermal conditions during blooming period had a greater influence on reproduction processes of sandy everlasting than both the population age (the secondary succession progress) and the level of root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi. High amount of precipitation at plant generative development phase positively influences the potential and actual fertility of ramets. The presence of arbuscular fungus in the soil favors the growth and development of sandy everlasting specimens at their early growing stages: they have a better-developed root system and a greater photosynthetic area.

Sandy Everlasting (Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench): Botanical, Chemical and Biological Properties

“…Although the sandy everlasting is very interesting for the pharmaceutical industry, and also classified as endangered species in a number of European countries, very few data about its cultivation are available in the literature. First attempts of growing H. arenarium date back to the mid of the 1970s (Fijalkowski and Seroczynska, 1974 ; Moroz et al, 1976 ; Pacholak and Zalecki, 1979 ; Sawilska et al, 2009 ), but none of them was completely successful in terms of surviving ratio and growth (Buchwald, 1992 ). Most of the authors concluded that this plant is inconvenient for cultivation since experimental trials yielded only slightly higher amounts of inflorescence biomass than those from natural stands.…”

“…Protection regulations triggered a need to develop a new efficient growing technology for sandy everlasting, which could restore the species for it use in phytotherapy (Sawilska and Jendrzejczak, 2013 ). After first unsuccessful attempts of growing sandy everlasting in plantations, Sawilska et al ( 2009 ) have explained the reason why those attempts failed and pointed out the influence of mycorrhizal fungi on the inflorescence yield. Small farms in Latvia also cultivate H. arenarium for local consumption, where the production area was estimated as less than 2 ha since marketing problems have affected the production of domestic medicinal plants in general (Olsson et al, 2005 ).…”

The growth and medicinal quality ofEpimedium wushanenseare improved by an isolate of dark septate fungus

“…Compared with the extensive amount of literature about the effects of AM fungi on medicinal plant species (AbuZeyad et al, 1999;Copetta et al, 2006;Jurkiewicz et al, 2010;Sawilska et al, 2009;Zubek et al, 2010), research on DSE symbioses is relatively limited. The effects of DSE fungi on plants are not as well understood and are currently the subject of much debate in the scientific community (Jumpponen & Trappe, 1998;Mandyam & Jumpponen, 2005;Newsham, 2011;Zhang et al, 2012).…”

Arbuscular mycorrhizal and dark septate endophyte associations of medicinal plants

“…First and, to our best knowledge, the only one study to date on the mycorrhizal status of medicinal plants conducted Zubek and Błaszkowski [21]. Furthermore, also few experimental studies concerning the influence of AMF on selected medicinal plant species have been carried out recently by Sawilska et al [22], Jurkiewicz et al [15], and Zubek et al [16]. The aim of the present study was to examine the AMF diversity and the fungal root colonization of selected species, both introduced and native to the flora of Poland, from the collection of the Jagiellonian University Botanical Garden in Kraków.…”