The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the seedling growth of four hybrid cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) cultivars

Authors: ŞEFİK TÜFENKCİ, SEMRA DEMİR, SUAT ŞENSOY, HÜSAMEDDİN ÜNSAL, EMRE DEMİRER DURAK, ÇEKNAS ERDİNÇ, ŞEYHMUS BİÇER, AYTEKİN EKİNCİALP

Abstract: The effectiveness of different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on different hybrid cucumber cultivars has not been well documented, even under normal seedling conditions. The present study therefore aimed to evaluate colonization, nutrient uptake, dependency, and other seedling traits of 4 cucumber hybrids (Ceren F_1, Beta F_1, Silyon F_1 and Maraton F_1) inoculated by 3 different AMF [Glomus intraradices (Gi), Glomus etunicatum (Ge) and Gigaspora margarita (Gm)]. Traits were evaluated in a growth chamber experiment consisting of a 4 × 4 factorial design (4 cucumber hybrids, 3 AMF plus 1 control) with 3 random replications. AMF-inoculated cucumber seedlings had shorter hypocotyledons and wider and longer cotyledons than non-inoculated seedlings. Gm-inoculated seedlings had the narrowest stem diameter and lowest leaf number. AMF-inoculated seedlings had shorter shoots and longer roots than noninoculated ones. There was significant mycorrhizal effect on the iron (Fe) content of shoots and the mycorrhizal colonization rate in roots. Relative mycorrhizal dependency (RMD) varied widely among the hybrid cucumber cultivars tested. It is thought that the determination of high-RMD cultivars could lead to improvements in cucumber seedling production in the future.

Keywords: AMF, colonization, cucumber, dependency, nutrient uptake, symbiosis

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