Influence of Surface Sterilization and Cold Treatment on Germination of AM Spores

Vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal(VAM) fungi are a unique group of ubiquitous soil microorganism known to form symbiotic association with ischolar_mains of economically important crop plants. AM propagules such as isolated spores, sheared mycorrhizal ischolar_mains are virtually able to initiate AM symbiosis and establish the pre-symbiotic phase with the transformed ischolar_main. The spores were sterilized with 96 % ethyl alcohol and treated for 30, 60 and 90 seconds. Surface sterilization of AM spore viz., Glomus mosseae, G. intrardices and G. caledonium with 96 per cent ethyl alcohol for 60 sec exhibited higher germination per cent without affecting the viability of spores. Further cold treatment of spores at 4°C for a period of 30 days improved the spore germination to 90 % and 56.5 % in Glomus intraradices and Glomus caledonium, respectively, whereas Glomus mosseae, recorded maximum with 20 days of cold treatment. Though germination was observed higher with 30 days and cold treatment, stratification at 40C for a perod of 16-20 days resulted better germination of spores.