Formononetin application on colonization and sporulation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Brachiaria

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of Mycoform on both sporulation and colonization of 13 arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) isolates in Brachiaria decumbens. The experiment was carried out in greenhouse conditions with sterile soil, in a completely randomized design with 3x13 factorial treatments and five repetitions. The product was applied once at planting and was or was not applied a second time 60 days afterwards, at an amount of 2 mg kg(-1) of soil. Plants were allowed to grow for 150 days, when root and rhizospheric soil samples were collected to evaluate the percentage of colonized root segments and the spore density. Mycoform effects were different among the fungal isolates. It had significant effect on colonization for the isolates Glomus clarum DCS 09 and DCS 10, Paraglomus occultum DCS 06 and Acaulospora delicata DCS 02, and on spore density for the isolates G. clarum DCS 09 and DCS 10, P. occultum DCS 06 and DCS 31, Glomus etunicatum DCS 12, A. delicata DCS 30 and Kuklospora colombiana DCS 03. Maximum increases due to Mycoform were 60% for colonization and 89% for spore density. These results confirm formononetin effects on AMF colonization and on AMF sporulation.