Infection of Australian Heathland Plants by Gigaspora margarita (a Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus)

Abstract

One spore type produced by a vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus that was sieved from soils collected in a heathland area at Cranbourne in Victoria is that of Gigaspora margarita Becker & Hall, a non-sporocarpic member of the Endogonaceae. The large, white, bulbous-based spores of this fungus were germinated and cultured on artificial media and their growth patterns observed. Certain host species including Leptospermum juniperinum Sm. and Trachymene anisocarpa (Turcz) B.L. Burtt were infected in pot culture with the same fungus and the morphology and anatomy of the resulting association were studied. A variation on the mode of entry and spread of the fungus within the root from that described for another vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal association is discussed.