Rhizospher fungi Identified from Poaceae and Cyperaceae Family Grass in North and East Shewa: Ethiopia

Poaceae are the fifth largest family of flowering plants following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae. Globally, about 12,000 grass species in about 771 genera that are classified into 12 subfamilies and the family is economically important because it includes Teff (Eragrottis teff), wheat (Triticum L.), rice (Oryza L.) and corn (Zea L.), as well as numerous forage, bamboo and biofuel grass species [1]. Grasses grow on all continents in tropical, temperate and Arctic zones and are absent only from Antarctica [2]. Grasses have long had significance in human society for feed and fodder for people and domesticated animals for thousands of years. During seed germination and seedling growth of this grass, there is great interaction with a range of microorganisms present in the surrounding soil. Root exudates from this grass are mainly composed of water-soluble sugars, organic acids, and amino acids, hormones, vitamins, amino compounds, phenolics and sugar phosphate esters [3]. Broadly, there are three distinct components recognized in the rhizosphere; the rhizosphere per se (soil), the rhizoplane, and the root itself. The rhizosphere is thus the zone of soil influenced by roots through the release of substrates that affect microbial activity. The rhizoplane is the root surface, including the strongly adhering root particles. The root itself is a part of the system, because certain endophytic microorganisms are able to colonize inner root tissues [4]. Microorganisms present in the rhizosphere play important roles in ecological fitness of their plant host. The rhizosphere is a hotspot of plant-microbe interactions with profound influence on plant productivity and ecosystem function [5]. Shaped by the release of labile carbon (C) from plant roots and root uptake of nutrients and water, the physiochemical environment of the rhizosphere supports a microbial community compositionally and metabolically distinct from that found in bulk soil [6]. The resulting rhizosphere microbiome performs critical functions, modulating plant growth and development [7], plant health, and plant nutrient acquisition [5] as well as the production of antibiotics, geochemical cycling of minerals and plant colonization [8]. Abstract