Effects of Wild and Commercial Mycorrhizae on Sorghastrum nutans and Sorghum bicolor Warm-Seasoned Grasses

Abstract

This study looked the effects of both wild and commercial mycorrhiza on several different plant traits of Sorghastrum nutans and Sorghum bicolor. The traits we addressed were stomata count, above and belowground biomass, leaf length, and stem width. This study can help people in agriculture know weather or not to use mycorrhizae, and if so, weather they should use wild or commercial mycorrhiza.  We tested this by sterilizing the soil containing wild mycorrhiza in half of the plants containing each species, and then in half of both of those treatments we inoculated them with commercial mycorrhiza. We found that the stomata and leaf length were both not significantly effected, and in terms of the rest of the growth traits we found that plants with wild mycorrhiza were much smaller than plants in sterilized soil. Overall the plants treated with commercial mycorrhiza did not show any significant difference.  From our results we would expect that sterilizing the soil of plants would actually cause the greatest growth,  but we expect due to previous research in the field that something else must be affecting our plants for this outcome to occur.