Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are known to be well distributed throughout both hemispheres. These fungi can be isolated from a wide variety of natural habitats and are particularly abundant in cultivated lands. Little work has been carried out regarding their distribution in grapevine fields in Iran especially in west Azerbaijan as important producing area. During the periods from July to September 2008 to 2009, 40 composite soil samples were collected from 4 main vineyard growing sites in west Azerbaijan province of Iran. The spore numbers as well as identification and distribution of fungal species were studied. The number of spores varied between 32 to 695 spores with an average of 213 spores per 100 g soil sample. After root clearing and staining, fungal colonization as well as different fungal structures including fungal hyphae, vesicles and arbuscules could be observed. Cluster analysis of sampling habitats based on average spore numbers using UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) method showed that habitats put in 2 main clusters. Habitats A, B and C put in one cluster and habitat D put in separate one. Among the 12 fungal species identified, 11 species were of Glomus and 1 species belonged to Scutellospora genera. The most and least abundant species recorded were Glomus fasciculatum and Glomus glomerulatum with a frequency of 78 and 1%, respectively.

Keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi, identification, diversity, grapevine.