Producción de esporas de hongos micorrízicos arbusculares utilizando un método de plantas trampa mediante un sistema de cultivo aeropónico.

Abstract

Soil is subject to intensive agricultural use because humans need to cultivate it for survival. Approximately 40% of soils worldwide are moderately or severely degraded, leading to nutrient loss and altering the microbiota, which is composed of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF).

This study develops a production protocol of AMF based on their benefits and ability to be produced in artificial media. It required obtaining soil samples intended for maize cultivation from 6 plots of 10 m² located in the sectors of La Manga, La Cabina, and Pindal, belonging to the Zapotillo and Pindal cantons in the Province of Loja in southern Ecuador, as well as rhizosphere soil from 20 randomly selected plants from each of the study sites, where spores of 4 species of AMF were isolated and identified: Rhizophagus irregularis, Rhizophagus clarus, Gigaspora rosea, and Colombian Acaulospora.

After identifying the AMF spores, 20 were extracted and inoculated onto the roots of Beta vulgaris L. var. Cicla L (Swiss chard) as trap plants. They were placed in an aeroponic bioreactor system that allowed for the nebulization of nutrients required by the spores every 3 minutes for 1.10 minutes. After three months of inoculation, root samples were collected for staining and counting the percentage of mycorrhization, which reached 41%. Spore production was observed, and the process of inoculating the roots was successful.

Keywords: Production, arbuscular mycorrhizae, isolation, soil, mycorrhization