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evident in the non inoculated plants (control)
and recommended rate which showed 0%
colonization. Mycorrhiza colonization is normally
attributed to the tree species and environmental
factors. Smith et al. (1979) reported that the
extent to which typical VAM fungi colonize root
systems varies with species of plant. It has
also been noted that there are differences in
the extent of infection between genotypes of
the same species. The extent of mycorrhiza
infection in root systems is also known to be
influenced by environmental conditions; the
most important being the age of the plants, the
level of phosphate (P) in the soil relative to the
requirements of the plant and the capacity of
the population of mycorrhiza propagules in the
soil to form mycorrhiza. Citrus reticulata is a
non nodulating legume (Ladha et al., 1993) and
rhizobium bacteria could not have posed any
threat in competing with mycorrhiza fungi for
carbohydrates. The time period of the seedlings
(five months) could have been too short to
record a higher colonization percentage since
the root system infected normally increases
with time sigmoidally. Seasonal patterns in the
formation of mycorrhiza have also been said to
vary considerably from year to year (Allen et
al., 1989).
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Vesicular arbuscular mychorrizal
(VAM) fungi are microorganisms which are
known to form a symbiotic relationship with
plants through enhancing the plants’ growth
by increasing the root systems absorption of
nutrients from the soil while simultaneously
making the plants’ roots as their habitat. This
study was conducted to ascertain the diversity
of indigenous VAM fungi present in the soils of
citrus plantations of Nueva Vizacaya, and to
prove the capability of the fungi to function as a
biofertilizer.
The isolation, identification, and
counting of fungi paved way to the diversity
analysis of the presence of indigenous VAM
fungi in citrus plantations. The results indicated
that there is a vast diversity of VAM species in
J.I. Yago, et.al
the plantations and more importantly four new
unknown species were discovered.
To further supplement the findings on
the diversity study, the isolated and identified
fungi from the soil samples where then
inoculated to Citrus reticulata seedlings to
test the fungi’s efficacy as biofertilizer, and
to observe the mycorrhizal penetration to the
roots. The in-vivo experimentation of the pregerminated
citrus seedlings was conducted
to to observe the mycorrhizal penetration of
Gigaspora gigantea and the unknown Glomus
species to the cortical cells of the plant. On
the other hand, the experiment is composed
of three treatments, with VAM, with synthetic
fertilizer and the control group, wherein the
growth parameters were observed. The specific
species of VAM inoculated on the seedlings
was Glomus mosseae.
This study revealed that there is a
diverse population of VAM fungi in the soil
acquired from the three major citrus-based
plantations in Nueva Vizcaya, as supported by
the immense population of fungi found in the
three plantations.
The soil acquired from Kongkong Valley
showed the most multifarious population of
mychorrizal fungi having 11 known species and
three unknown species presumed to be of the
genus Glomus, Gigaspora and Scutellospora.
The most copious species was the Glomus
mosseae having a population of 45/600 grams
of soil.
In Muta Valley, seven known species
and one unknown, also of the genus gigaspora,
were observed. The most dominant species
present was Gigaspora gigantea having a
population of 52/600 grams of soil.
On the other hand, only four known
species were observed to be present in
Malabings Valley and the most dominant was
also the Gigaspora gigantea which has a
population of 15/600 grams of soil.
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