Effects of sugar on colonization and sporulation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil condition

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi(AMF) necessarily rely on taking up carbohydrate from host plant roots to fulfill their entire life cycle due to their inability of photosynthesis. Adding exogenous materials is considered as a feasible way to regulate symbiotic associations between plant roots and AMF. A pot experiment was conducted to assess the effects of applying differentkinds of sugars on Glomus mosseae colonization, spore density and subsequently the growth of Lycopersicon esculentum. The results showed the shoot dry weight and the amount of phosphorus(P) and potassium(K) in shoot were increased by applying glucose and sucrose, but no effect was found by applying maltose and starch. No significant effects were detected on the amount of nitrogen(N) in shoot after adding different sugars. The amount of alkali-hydrolyzale nitrogen in soil was decreased with adding of different sugars. Olsen-P and available K in the soil decreased with the increase of uptake amount of P and K in ground part of plant. No significant effect as found on soil organic matter for all treatments. The root colonization of AMF was increased by adding different sugars, and had increased by 27% in treatment of sucrose. The application of different kind of sugars had no significant effect on sporulation capacity of AMF.