Biodiversity of Endophytic Mycorrhizal fungi associated with some medicinal plants of Himachal Pradesh

Mycorrhiza is the most important member of functional soil microbial community in natural ecosystem and creates an intimate link between plant roots and soil. In the present investigation, attempts were made to screen out endomycorrhizal biodiversity from different medicinal plants. A total of twelve plants from six different families were screened for arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) spore number and root colonization. The mycorrhizal root colonization ranged from 0.0 to 67.50±10.60 percent. Adhatoda vesica showed maximum root colonization and Achyranthus aspera lack mycorrhizal root colonization. The spore number ranged from 25.66±3.00 to 388.33±8.50. The highest mycorrhizal spore count was found in Aster thomsonii and lowest in Aloe vera. It was found that number of spores in the rhizosphere of plant was not related to the intensity of AM root colonization. The study confirmed that the biodiversity of AM fungi differ in different plants.