41. Investigating arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal infection in medicinal plant roots in different localities of tehsil Shabqadar, district Charsadda, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhiza represents plant-fungal association in which fungal partner gets carbohydrates and improves the nutrient uptake of host plants enhancing plant growth and productivity. The present work was done with the aim of generating baseline information on Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in medicinal plants of different locations of Tehsil Shabqadar, District Charsadda, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Pakistan. During the study, total of 40 medicinal plants were evaluated at different growth stages (i.e. vegetative, fruiting, and flowering) for investigating the AMF root colonization. During the study, high root colonization (95-100%) was shown by family Asteraceae, and Meliaceae, and the lowest in families of Libatacea, Solanacea, Lamaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Rhamnaceae respectively (10-20%). Among the localities, the highest host colonization by AMF was found in village Gonda and Nasratzai (100%) followed by Village Kangra and Pindi kaly, whereas no colonization/infection was found in Karimo. Similarly, the concentration of sand, silt, clay, organic matter, Calcium etc. determined at all locations studied were also different. As large number of medicinal plants can be found in different Locations of District Charsadda, extensive research work is required to create database of mycorrhizal species colonizing these medicinal plants and to determine their medicinal values for treatment of different infections.

Keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; Medicinal plants; Roots colonization; Shabqadar

http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2020.90046