XVI International Botanical Congess

We studied arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) symbiosis in three annual legumes and two perennial grasses both in field and greenhouse. We used three treatments: phosphorus (P), benomyl (B), P+B and control in order to compare the relationship among plant growth and phosphorus assimilation, and mycorrhizal infection. We found: 1) Mycorrhizal colonization is directly related to plant phenology, 2) Phosphorus application seems to be the most important factor for plant productivity, in this case there was no benefit from the symbiosis, 3) Percentage of mycorrhizal colonization is greater in perennial grasses, 4) There are differences in the performance within the two plant groups, AM could be consider as a key-factor for more specific functional group classifications.