XVI International Botanical Congess

We studied the phylogeny of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by analyzing ribosomal small subunit sequences and screened rDNA sequences for annealing sites for taxon-specific PCR primers. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that several lineages diverged very early during the evolution of the glomalean clade and do not fall within the established families. Glomus sinuosum, formerly known as Sclerocystis sinuosa, was shown to belong to a clade comprising Glomus intraradices. PCR primers specific for five major subgroups of the Glomales were designed, including the deeply divergent lineages. They were tested with colonized roots and the resulting PCR products were used for taxon identification by restriction analysis.