Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) Diversity in Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce Under Arid Agroecosystems

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi associated with Prosopis cineraria (Khejri) were assessed for their qualitative and quantitative distribution from eight districts of Rajasthan. A total of three species of Acaulospora, one species of Entrophospora, two species of Gigaspora, twenty-one species of Glomus, seven species of Sclerocystis and three species of Scutellospora were recorded. A high diversity of AM fungi was observed and it varied at different study sites. Among these six genera, Glomus occurred most frequently. Glomus fasciculatum, Glomus aggregatum, and Glomus mosseae were found to be the most predominant AM fungi in infecting Prosopis cineraria. Acaulospora, G. fasciculatum, Sclerocystis was found in all the fields studied, while Scutellospora species were found only in few sites. A maximum of thirty-six AM fungal species were isolated and identified from Jodhpur, whereas only thirteen species were found from Jaisalmer. Spores of Glomus fasciculatum were found to be most abundant under Prosopis cineraria.