Isolation and characterization of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi from the rhizospheric soil of some medicinal plants

The present investigation was carried out to estimate the colony forming units of indigenous fungi and to study the diversity and Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) of some medicinal plants. The study was also aimed to estimate and isolate the Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) spore population from the rhizospheric soil of some important medicinal plants from the Botanical garden of College campus. All the selected medicinal plants i.e., Mentha sp. Ocimum sanctum, Bryophyllum sp. Adhatoda vasica, and Andrographis paniculata showed a very good diversity of rhizospheric soil fungi. The highest number of Colony forming unit (c.f.u) was estimated in Mentha sp (162/10-1) followed by Bryophyllum sp. (156/10-1), Andrographis paniculata (91/10-1), Adhatoda vasica (72/10-1) and Ocimum sanctum (68/10-1). Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) spore population was also estimated in all the medicinal plants. The higest number of AM spores was estimated in Andrographis paniculata (121/50gm-1) followed by Ocimum sanctum (112/50gm-1), Adhatoda vasica (94/50gm-1), Bryophyllum sp.(89/50gm-1) and Mentha sp (75/ 50gm-1). The rhizospheric soil fungal diversity including mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus sp.) also was found to be beneficial for increasing the photosynthetic activity and uptake of phosphorus in medicinal plants. Thus, the use of AM inoculum can increase the yield of medicinal plants along with their secondary metabolites to utilize on a sustainable basis as a traditional and herbal medicine for the human welfare.