A NEW CULTIVATION SYSTEM FOR ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI ON GLASS-BEADS

A novel method for the production of AM-fungal biomass of high purity is described. The system consists of five chambers separated by nylon mesh screens of different pore sizes. The two outer compartments conta in Allium schoenoprasum precolonized with Glomus intraradices or other Glomus species in a soil substrate. Colonized roots are allowed to gr ow into the adjacent chambers filled with glass beads. Only hyphae gro w across the innermost compartment. Production of spores on these hyph ae can be easily monitored. This material represents an infectious ino culum. Washing out spores or hyphae yields relatively pure material th at can be used for DNA extraction or biochemical experiments.