PHOTOACOUSTIC MONITORING OF THE INFLUENCE OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL INFECTION ON THE PHOTOSYNTHESIS OF CORN (ZEA-MAYS L)

The general utility of the photoacoustic effect is demonstrated by exa mining in vivo and in situ, for the first time, the influence of arbus cular mycorrhizal infection on the photosynthetic activity of intact m aize leaves. Experiments correlating the photosynthetic O-2 evolution, after a dark induction period, through the photoacoustic effect in my corrhizal and non-mycorrhizal maize plants with their field performanc e show very consistent data. The influence of the arbuscular mycorrhiz al infection on the photosynthetic efficiency is discussed. This metho dology opens the possibility for early evaluation of the effect of fun gi symbiotic adaptation with maize plants. For the arbuscular mycorrhi zal-maize plant system, photoacoustics represents an extremely helpful technique for discarding low performance materials.