Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and their effects on growth of different cultivars of Capsicum annuum L.

We studied the changes in the number of leaves, roots and height on three cultivars of Capsicum anuumm (Jalapeno, Serrano and De arbol) after inoculation with Glomus intraradices FS18 and Glomus Zac-19. Results indicated that Glomus intraradices FS18 produced greater effects on height (6.12 and 5.63 cm) and number of leaves (10.66 and 5.84) in the cultivars “Jalapeno” and “De arbol”, respectively. On the other hand, Glomus zac-19 stimulated the number of leaves and roots in “Serrano” pepper (6.17 leaves and 15.31 roots) and “Arbol” (6.52 leaves and 26.32 roots). Our results demonstrate the capacity of Glomus intraradices FS18 and Glomus Zac-19 of stimulating seedling growth on the three cultivars of Capsicum annuum L. This demonstrates the potential for using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the production of plants of agronomic interest.