Proceedings of the Plant Biology Symposium
This journal displays work from students enrolled in BOT 1404 at Oklahoma State University.
The Effect of Commercial Inoculum and Mycorrhizae Relationships
Our experiment focused on achieving a greater understanding of the relationship between plants and mycorrhizae. The relationship between these two living organisms is unique and is symbiotic. The experiment narrowed in on these relationships be testing the affects of wild mycorrhizae and a commercial brand, in four different soil types. Each lab group was given two species of plants to study. Our group, lap group 1, received Desmanthus illinoeinsis and Monarda fistulosa. Using the commercial inoculum “Plant Success Endo and Ecto-Mycorrhizae” The four soil types included were: 1) Commercial inoculum present, with non-sterile soil type 2) Commercial inoculum present, with sterile soil type 3) Commercial inoculum absent, with non-sterile soil type 4) Commercial inoculum absent, with sterile soil type The plants were transplanted into their own separate holders, and grown under controlled laboratory conditions. The plants height was measured every week and the plants were watered as needed. At the end of the experiment above and below ground growth was weighed and recorded. The experiment we conducted found that plants grown in non sterile soil had an increasingly heavier above ground biomass than those plants that were grown in sterile soil. This is most likely due to the amount of other important biotic factors found in wild soil that benefits plants growth and development. The major takeaway learned from this experiment is that mycorrhizae is not the only biotic factors plant need to thrive to their fullest potential. While adding commercial inoculum is definitely not a bad idea, and does help to an extant; nothing can really beat wild soil.
Copyright (c) 2017 Proceedings of the Plant Biology Symposium
Fungi Fun: the Effects of Commercial Mycorrhizae on the Growth of Desmodium canadense and Salvia azurea
Mycorrhizal symbioses with plants has been well studied and is understood to be an important contributor to plant ability to gain necessary water and nutrient requirements. For two native forb species Desmodium canadense and Salvia azurea, our objective was to determine how the addition of a commercial inoculum of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) would interact with soils containing native AMF in affecting plant growth. Concluding a 3 week observation period the data showed significant responses for an interaction between the inoculum treatment and the soil treatment across above ground biomass, below ground biomass, and shoot lenth. Chlorophyll content did not increase significantly for the interaction of commercial and native AMF, but when only considering the inoculum itself and not against the soil treatment there was a significance. Both species produced higher chlorophyll content regardless of soil treatment. Overall, species Salvia azurea responded better for all soil treatments as compared to Desmodium canadense species with the exception of chlorophyll content in living soil regardless of inoculum. Sterile soils appeared to have a detrimental effect especially for Desmodium canadense. This could have been due to an improper matching of plant species and mycorrhiza species. Despite the lower performance of Desmodium canadense, the evidence suggests that it is likely that a commercial inoculum of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi does have a positive interaction on both plant species observed when grown in soil with native mycorrhizae.
The Effects of Commercial Mycorrhizal Inoculum on Ratibida columnifera and Helianthus annuus
Premise of the study: Mycorrhizae is a fungus that lives in symbiosis on plant roots and uptakes nutrients for the plant in exchange for carbon from the plant. This experiment aimed to better understand the effects of the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizae fungus, soil interactions, and two different species of plants, Rc- Ratibida columnifera and the Ha-Helianthus annuus. By better understanding how mycorrhizae influences plant growth, we can use that knowledge to apply mycorrhizae appropriately to plants for various desired results. Methods: Six samples of Rc and Ha were planted in four different treatment conditions, containing: commercial and sympatric, commercial-only, sympatric-only, and no mycorrhizae. Chorophyll content, height, stomata count, and biomass were all used to compare the effects of the mycorrhizae. Key Results: Live soil had a greater aboveground biomass than sterile soil (P=0.018). Live soil also had a greater belowground biomass than sterile soil (P=0.073). Non-inoculated treatments measured taller than inoculated treatments (P=0.583). Inoculated treatments had higher photosynthesis levels than non-inoculated (P=0.577). Conclusions: Overall, our results suggest that commercial mycorrhizae benefited Ha plants more than the Rc plants. The non-inoculated Ha plants were taller than those with added mycorrhizae, but the inoculated plants had a higher chlorophyll count. This shows that the plants with added mycorrhizae could have sacrificed height to build up additional chlorophyll. The aboveground and belowground biomass was also greater in the plants that were in live soil compared to the sterile soil.
The Effects of Wild (Native) Mycorrhizae Compared to Commercial Mycorrhizae Inoculants on Cool-season Grasses (Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis)
Premise of study Due to the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizae and host plants, many commercial forms of mycorrhizal fungi have been introduced to the market. Many commercial mycorrhizae inoculants include additives to assist in plant growth. For example, Plant Success Endo- and Ecto-Mycorrhizae consists of multiple arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) and ectomycorrhiza (ECM) species, as well as, 3-1-2 N-P-K. Although these commercial inoculants are available for consumers, their effectiveness compared to native mycorrhizae has not been widely researched. Methods To test this, 48 seedlings (24 of each species: Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis) were transplanted into four treatment groups with six replicates per group: commercial inoculum present, living soil; commercial inoculum present, sterile soil; commercial inoculum absent, living soil; commercial inoculum absent, sterile soil. Each week, chlorophyll content was measured using a SPAD meter, blade height was measured, and both values recorded. At the end of the experiment, the aboveground and belowground biomasses were measured for each species. Key results/Conclusions There was a significant relationship between an increase in biomass of each plant species (B. inermis and E. canadensis) and soil treatment. Both plant species grew taller and with less variation in sterile soil conditions. However, each species struggled to survive in inoculated soils, regardless of the soil treatment (living or sterile). Overall, a significant relationship was not found between either species and the commercial mycorrhizal inoculant or wild (native) mycorrhizal fungi.
Mycorrhizal Experiment: The Interaction Effect
Our experiment was to test to see how mycorrhizal effected plants in native soil and sterilized soil. In our hypothesis we thought both Sorghastrum nutans and Sorghum bicolor that was inoculated and in living prairie soil would have greater chlorophyll content and a greater height. In this experiment we transplanted Sorghastrum nutans from Johnston Seed CO. Enid, OK and Sorghum bicolor from “Macia” variety; USDA.Twenty-four tubes were filled with sterilized soil while another twenty-four tubes were filled with living prairie soil. Twelve of each plant were then placed into the two different soil types.Of those twelve, six were inoculated with commercial mycorrhizal fungi. We transplanted each plant into its tube by putting the roots first into a hoe that was made with a scoopula.Rulers were used to measure stem height and a SPAD meter was used to measure chlorophyll content of each plant each week for five weeks.An ANOVA test was used to determine significance between the four treatment groups. After collecting data we realized our data was marginally insignificant for all the treatments. Our hypothesis was not supported by our findings in the experiment. Beyond the effect of individual treatments we found a unique trend in the cooperation of treatments and their effect on both plant species, the interaction effect. The interaction effect demonstrated opposing trends in stem growth as inoculated Sn plants would grow more in live soil but the non-inoculated Sn plants would grow more in Sterile soil. We learned that mycorrhizal is not for all plant species it may be good for some but could hurt others or just have no effect.
Effects of Commercial and Native Mycorrhizae on Two Warm Season Grasses]
Mycorrhizal fungi help plants acquire nutrients from the soil in exchange for organic carbon. Our goal is to determine the effects of commercial mycorrhizae vs. native mycorrhizae on plant growth depending on the sympatric/allopatric relationship between the soil, fungus, and plant. We hypothesized that plants exposed to mycorrhizal fungi, whether it is commercial or native, will have the greater biomass than those without fungi. The plant species used were Bothriochloa ischaemum and Andropogon gerardii. The seeds of these were divided and put equally into sterile soil with or without inoculum. Inoculated groups were given ¼ teaspoon of Plant Success Endo- and Ecto-Mycorrhizae. Height was recorded weekly for each plant, and were dried and weighed to determine biomass. Our findings did not support out hypothesis. There was not a significant difference in biomass between the commercially added and the wild mycorrhizae. Sterile, non-inoculated soil resulted in greater biomass and height in both species. This suggests that mycorrhizal association did not benefit our specific grass species. It is also possible that if the experiment had run longer, we would have had different results, as mycorrhizae are usually required for grasses to complete their life cycle. Additional research could be done to determine if the amount of inoculum added affects plant fitness, as it is possible too much of the fungus could parasitize plants.
The Effects of Mycorrhizal Inoculation on Desmanthus illinoensis and Monarda fistulosa
In our research, we aimed to further the knowledge of the capability and potential of commercial inoculum by comparing its effectiveness to that of wild mycorrhizae on plant growth of two different plant species: Desmanthus illinoensis (DI) and Monarda fistulosa (MF). There were four treatment groups: DI and MF grown in living prairie soil inoculated with commercial mycorrhizal inoculum (LI), DI and MF grown in sterilized prairie soil inoculated with commercial mycorrhizal inoculum (SI), DI and MF grown in living prairie soil without commercial mycorrhizal inoculum (LN), and DI and MF grown in sterilized prairie soil without commercial mycorrhizal inoculum (SN).We predicted that the commercial mycorrhizae treatment in sterilized soil would have the largest average plant biomass, plant height, and average surface area of leaves. Our hypothesis was not supported, but there was a significant difference for the number of leaves found on the plants grown in living prairie soil inoculated with commercial inoculum.
The goal of this experiment is to showcase the interactions and relationships between mycorrhizae, soil, and plant species. Two types of mycorrhizae were used--natural mycorrhizae and commercial mycorrhizae (specifically the brand Root Naturally Endo Mycorrhizae). Half of the plants were grown in live soil, and the other half was grown in sterile soil. The two specific plant species used were Salvia azurae and Desmodium canadense. We hypothesized that mycorrhiza would have a positive effect on plant growth and development; specifically, aboveground plant biomass, chlorophyll count, and water content. A SPAD meter was used to measure chlorophyll content, and a scale was used to measure aboveground biomass. Water content was found by taking the ratio of aboveground dry biomass to aboveground wet biomass. The results of this experiment did not support the initial hypothesis. Mycorrhizae did not have an overall significant effect on plant growth and development. The type of mycorrhizae inoculum did have a significant effect on aboveground dry biomass. Soil treatment was significant more often than the inoculum type. This research can be used to better understand the relationship between mycorrhizae, plant biomass, chlorophyll count, and water count.
Plant growth response to wild and commercial mycorrhizae
The reason behind our experiment was to test the symbiotic relationship of plants and mycorrhizae. We were aiming to see if the plants growth rate and biomass were affected with commercial or native to the soil mycorrhizae. We tested two plant species, Ratibida columnifera and Helianthus annuus, in four different soil mixtures, living soil with inoculum, living without inoculum, sterile soil with inoculum and sterile soil without inoculum. The results showed that based on the soil type there was a significant difference in the above and below ground plant biomass but the inclusion of commercial inoculum did not show drastic affects in growth or biomass when compared to the wild mycorrhizae. Based on our results we cannot say that our hypothesis was supported due to the similar averages of growth rates between both commercial and wild mycorrhizae.
Effects of commercial and wild mycorrhiza on aboveground and belowground biomass ratio in Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis
The purpose of this research is to elucidate how wild and commercial mycorrhizal fungi effect the growth habits of Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis. The species of plants that were used were Elymus canadensis and Bromus inermis.This experiment is setup so that we will have four different test groups. Test group 1 is Commercial mycorrhizal inoculum present, non-sterilized prairie soil. Test group 2 is Commercial mycorrhizal inoculum present, sterilized prairie soil. Test group 3 is Commercial mycorrhizal inoculum absent, non-sterilized prairie soil. Test group 4 is Commercial mycorrhizal inoculum absent, sterilized prairie soil.Each week during lab measurements were taken to track the progress of the experiment. We measured height of the shoot and number of live / dead plants. At the end of the experiment we measured below and above ground biomass. A 3 way anova will be performed using SPSS software. We did not find any significant differences (p = 0.05) between the shoot and root ratio of any of the treatment groups, between the mean height of the tallest leaf of any of the treatment groups, nor between the mean height of the tallest leaf when the two species were compared. We concluded that our hypothesis was not supported by our research but through more advanced and precise study meaningful evidence could be determined about the effects of these fungi on plants. However, our experiment added to the already formed idea that prairie grasses are some of the least affected, if not negatively affected, by mycorrhizae fungi inoculation.
The Effect of Commercial & Wild Mychorrizae of C4 Grasses
The main questions in this study that will be addressed include: What the effects of commercially available mycorrhizae for plant biomass comprise, how commercial mycorrhizae compares with wild mycorrhizae in terms of plant biomass growth, and if commercial and wild mycorrhizae actually interact to influence plant biomass. The effects and interactions between commercial and wild mycorrhizae on plant biomass contribute to future knowledge for increasing plant growth. We plan to study whether commercial or wild mycorrhizal fungi greater influences plant biomass in order to determine the best possible growing conditions for Sorghastrum nutans and Sorghum bicolor, two species of C4 grasses. We experimented with four different treatment groups and 48 plants (24 from each species and six in each treatment group): 1. The control group, commercial mycorrhizal inoculum present with non-sterilized prairie soil (LI), 2. Commercial mycorrhizal inoculum present with sterilized prairie soil (SI), 3. Commercial mycorrhizal inoculum absent with non-sterilized prairie soil (LN), and 4. Commercial mycorrhizal inoculum absent with sterilized prairie soil (SN). We hypothesize that sterile soil that is inoculated with commercial mycorrhizal fungi (SI) will show the greatest increase in the overall plant biomass due to the fact that the soil does not already have living mychorriza that could potentially compete with the commercial mychorriza, and our hypothesis was supported in this experiment.
The Effects of Mycorrhizal Colonization on Leaf Area Index.
The effects of commercial mycorrhizal fungi and the absence of said fungi on leaf area of the grasses Bothriochloa ischaemum and Andropogon gerardii growth patterns were studied under four different soil conditions (live soil with myccoriziae, live soil without myccoriziae, sterile soil with myccoriziae, and sterile soil without myccoriziae). There were two procedures which were were done with each species of plants six times. The end result is forty-eight plants because there are two plant species, four treatment levels, and six replicates of each. Over an allotted time period our group consistently maintained, observed, and recorded results from the different groups. Despite prior individual’s research that concluded warm season prairie grasses Bothriochloa ischaemum, and Andropogon gerardii were heavily dependent on mycorrhizal for growth. This experiment did not produce significantly different growth results among the four groups. It was concluded if there was a longer period of allotted time and larger test groups would more than likely produce a more significant outcome.
Impact of Wild and Commercial Mycorrhizae on Stem Height and Biomass
Our experiment is comparing the effect of wild versus commercial mycorrhizae on two different prairie plant species. Around 80% of plants associate with mycorrhizal fungi to acquire necessary resources (Rua et al., 2016). There is a large industry that revolves around selling commercial mixtures of mycorrhizae which claims to improve plant growth and crop yield. We hypothesize that the plant species that are inoculated with both the commercial and wild mycorrhizae would yield the best results. We conducted our experiment using four groups, a control group planted in sterilized soil and not inoculated, a group planted in sterilized soil and inoculated with the commercial brand of mycorrhizae, a group planted in soil with wild mycorrhizae, and the final group that was inoculated with both the commercial and wild mycorrhizae. Each seedling was planted into an individual container, received their treatment, and topped with sterile soil. During the first two weeks we recorded the survival of each plant, then the following three weeks we recorded the stem height and leaf count of each plant. After our recording our final data, we de-potted and dried each plant in order to measure the aboveground and underground biomass. We only found significant improvement in the leaf count of plants in the wild and commercial mycorrhizae treatment, supporting our hypothesis. No other data was significantly different. In future studies, they should extend data collection times, increase the number of plants per treatment group and increase variables analyzed to thoroughly explore this hypothesis.
Variance between Commercial Vs. Natural Mycorrhizae
Mycorrhizae is a fungus that grows onto the plant’s roots and creates a symbiont relationship between plant and fungus. It can help create a more efficient system for the plants such as their nutrient and water intake. In our study, we created a full factorial experiment testing the effects of the mycorrhizal interaction with two different species of plant, the Salvia azurea, and Desmodium canadense. Our hypothesis was that the plant specimens planted in both sterilized and unsterilized soil that have been inoculated with commercial mycorrhizae will have greater stem height, chlorophyll content, respiration rates, and overall biomass then the specimens that are inoculated with wild mycorrhizae or completely sterile with no mycorrhizae present. The study did not show any significant results or differences, thus did not support our hypothesis. This may result to not having a longer time frame in the experiment, or could be that it does not effect this species as much as others.
Back To The Roots: an Analysis of Mycorrhizal Fungi Interaction on Leaf Area and Chlorophyll Content
Over four weeks we conducted an experiment with two different plant species, Ratibida columnifera and Helianthus Annuus, to test how the presence of wild and commercial mycorrhizae would affect biomass, leaf area and chlorophyll content. We hypothesized that the presence of mycorrhizae would yield larger biomass than absence of mycorrhizae, and that wild mycorrhizae would outperform commercial mycorrhizae due to the advantage of an evolutionary relationship between local plant and local mycorrhizae. We separated four treatment groups (LI, LN, SI, and SN). Within those different groups we measured leaf length and width, chlorophyll content, and aboveground and belowground bimass. Our hypothesis was supported by the results in one of the plant species tested, Ratibida columnifera with wild mycorrhizae did have larger biomass and leaf LxW. Mycorrhizae has proven to be beneficial for plant growth and wild mycorrhizae has the advantage of centuries of adaptive evolution with local plant species. Commercial Mycorrhizae can be useful, but as far a perennial forbs are concerned, staying natural is best.
Commercial vs. Wild Mycorrhizae Effects on Biomass in Grass Species
Premise of the study: We studied the different effects wild and commercial mycorrhizae had on grass species. The effects measured in this experiment were biomass and chlorophyll content. Both effects were measured on two grass species, Elymus Canadensis and Bromus inermis. We hypothesised that wild mycorrhizae would have more beneficial effects than the commercial mycorrhizae. Methods: We made 4 treatment groups for our experiment with live inoculated, live non-inoculated, sterile inoculated, and sterile non-inoculated. We used rulers to measure stem height, scales to measure biomass, and a SPAD meter to measure chlorophyll. Key Results: The data showed a significant difference in the chlorophyll and biomass, but there was not a significant difference in stem height. Conclusions: Our hypothesis was not supported, the commercial mycorrhizae had more beneficial data in our experiment than the wild mycorrhizae.
Effects of Wild and Commercial Mycorrhizae on Sorghastrum nutans and Sorghum bicolor Warm-Seasoned Grasses
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.
Bothriochloa ischaemum was more responsive to the sterilized soil throughout the experiment and was generally the tallest in these treatment groups and had the greatest number of leaves. It fared better in the treatment we added the commercial inocula to. Our commercial inocula was Earth Juice-Rooter’s brand, which had a wide spectrum of mycorrhizal species. We believe because of the wide variety of species, one was more responsive to the plant than those in the live soil. Because of the sterility of the soil it gave way for those mycorrhizae to grow with the roots. We also feel the grasses did not have enough time to build stronger relationships with the fungi, as the Andropogon gerardii was mostly unaffected by our treatments. Sources for error include during our process for getting stomata samples we had many issues with collecting usable samples. Originally we tried using translucent tape, and could not get a good count. When we changed to clear tape some plants had already had nail polish applied and were showing signs of chlorosis where it was applied, possibly affecting our total biomass. We also had difficulties counting stomata possibly leading to inaccurate count.
A Study on the Effects of Mycorrhizae on Desmanthus illinoensis and Monarda fistulosa Plant Growth
The main purpose of this study was to test whether wild mycorrhizae or commercial mycorrhizae would better benefit the plant growth of Desmanthus illinoensis and Monarda fistulosa. We anticipated that the commercial mycorrhizae would increase stem height, number of leaves, and the total biomass of both species. We came to this hypothesis due to the fact that commercial mycorrhizae is specifically engineered to increase overall plant growth based on research that proves the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizae and plants where both species benefit from the relationship. This particular experiment is both imperative and relevant to the plant biology department because there is very little research comparing the two types of mycorrhizae. To test our hypothesis, we planted 48 total plants in four treatments: live inoculated, live non-inoculated, sterile inoculated, and sterile non-inoculated. A ruler was used to measure stem height in centimeters. At the end of the four weeks, we separated the plants from the soil and dried the roots and plant bodies for biomass measurements. Once completely dried, the biomass was measured using a scale. Our main result ended in our hypothesis being rejected due to a lack of statistically significant values for the differences in the wild vs. commercial mycorrhizae. In the end, it seemed that using mycorrhizae for the purpose of plant growth is still beneficial, but there is not a better type of mycorrhizae to use in this situation.
Mycorrhizal fungi are known for a positive effect on plants overall growth, we wanted to see if commercialized mycorrhizae would be an improvement. We studied two species of prairie plants to test the effects of wild vs commercially-produced mycorrhizae, and presence of both, on several plant traits (chlorophyll content, leaf number and biomass). We used live soil that was collected locally with mycorrhizae present, sterilized soil, and a commercially bought mycorrhizae inoculum from Sustainable Agricultural Technologies (SAT), that claims to reduce “drought stress, water and fertilizer needs,” along with increasing “flowering and fruiting, water and nutrient storage and uptake, and root growth.” We divided 24 plants into four treatments, with six plants of each species in each treatment: live soil with inoculum, live soil without inoculum, sterile soil with inoculum, and sterile soil without inoculum. We used a Two-way ANOVA to compare the data collected and concluded with no significant figures. We noticed that effects vary with plant species, Desmodium canadense had increased chlorophyll, while Salvia azurea doubled its biomass.
Wild vs. Commercial Arbuscular Mycorrhiza in Prairie Plants
This experiment was conducted over 6 weeks on two different plant types. Each plant was put into one of four groups, all containing different levels of treatment regarding inoculation by mycorrhizae. The plants were either placed in sterilized soil or unsterilized soil, and then either inoculated with commercial mycorrhizae or wild type mycorrhizae or none at all. The leaf area of each pant was then measured weekly, as well as the overall biomass at the end of the experiment. Photosynthetic rate was also measured in the last week ok the experiment as well. In the end, the plants showed no significant difference between those that were inoculated with the commercial mycorrhizae and those that were just put in the unsterilized soil containing the wild type, although there were increases in biomass among those inoculated with any mycorrhizae as compared to those in the sterilized soil with none at all. Overall our hypothesis that the commercial mycorrhizae would benefit the plants better than the wild type was not supported by the data we collected, although there were still significant results for plants with mycorrhizae as compared to no mycorrhizae. The plants in the unsterilized soil showed a higher growth rate overall, but the experiment needed more time to be certain of what exactly is the cause of this.
Natural and Synthetic Mycorrhizae Symbiosis with Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis
Premise of the study: The purpose of this study was to test the effects of mycorrhizae and see if it benefits the two species of plants Bromus inermis and Elymus Canadensis in sterilized and live soil. This work is important because if there is plants can benefit from mycorrhizae then this could greatly increase plant production. Methods: We tested the effect of wild mycorrhizae versus commercial mycorrhizae on the chlorophyll content and blade width of the grasses Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis. Our four treatment groups were divided into commercial mycorrhizae in a non-sterilized prairie soil, commercial mycorrhizae in sterilized prairie soil, no commercial mycorrhizae in non-sterilized prairie soil, and no commercial mycorrhizae in a sterilized prairie soil. Each treatment group had six replicates to make twenty-four total plants, and then we repeated the experiment for two grass species making forty-eight total plants. We separated the four treatment groups of each species into two groups based on whether or not they were going to receive commercial mycorrhizae or not receive commercial mycorrhizae. Every week we measured the blade width of each grass blade in centimeters for both species using a ruler, and we measured the chlorophyll content of each plant using a SPAD meter. At the end of the experimental period, we harvested the plants and obtained measurements for the above ground and below ground biomass in order to calculate the responsiveness of the mycorrhizae. Key Results: Both species seemed to benefit more in the sterilized soil. The Elymus canadensis seemed to benefit and grow better than the Bromus inermis in the sterilized soil. We didn’t seem to get as many results from the biomass as we had wanted. As the statistics weren’t significant, we cannot draw any certain conclusions from the biomass. Conclusions: From our results, we believe that the sterilized, inoculated (SI) soil benefitted the leaf width more than the other treatments. Although, we do believe that this could have been random due to the fact that the experiment was very short and so the plants had not had time to fully develop their leaf width. In the results for chlorophyll content, it is shown that there was a slight difference in the sterilized, inoculated (SI) and sterilized, non-inoculated (SN) in the species. The Elymus canadensis appeared to benefit more in the SI while the Bromus inermis appeared to benefit more in the SN. The biomass of both species seemed to benefit more in the sterilized soil, but there was not much difference between the SI and the SN. The best we can explain this is that while the sterilized subjects did better, there was not enough time to see the full results of the biomass differences in the SI and the SN soil. The results that we obtained were not what we had hoped. While there were some differences, our thought is that because the experiment was short, the plants did not have enough time to fully develop. Therefore, we could not fully test the effects that the different types of soil and mycorrhizae had on the subjects.
Mycorrhizae Effects Measured by Plant Growth and Plant Stress in Sorghum Bicolor and Sorghastrum Nutans
Plants provide us with many essentials to life and because of that it has become important that we find ways to improve agricultural production. One way has been experimented on plant growth and the symbiotic relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizae and plants. Using the experimental plan we wanted to determine how the inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizae effects the growth rate and stress levels of Sorghum bicolor and Sorghastrum nutans when in the presence of wild mycorrhizae. Our hypotheses were that plant growth would be the highest in the presence of both live and commercial mycorrhizae and the presence of mycorrhizae would lower chlorophyll content due to the expectation that the stress level on the plant would be lowered by the mycorrhizae. Measurements of stem height (cm) and chlorophyll content were recorded weekly for three weeks using a ruler and SPAD meter of 48 pots of Sorghum bicolor and Sorghastrum nutans, which were separated into four categories. The categories being live-inoculated, live-non inoculated, sterile-inoculated, and sterile-non inoculated. Calculations of growth rate were done by taking the difference of the first and third weeks, dividing by the third week, multiplying by 100, and dividing by the total number of weeks. The interactions between the soil and inoculum treatment produced insignificant results for each plant trait measured. Our data collected did not support either of our hypotheses. For stem height the results were opposite of what was predicted and there was no clear interpretation of the effect of mycorrhizae on chlorophyll per treatment.
The Fungus Among Us: The effects of mycorrhizae fungi on grasses
We studied the effects of commercial mycorrhizae inoculum, Sustainable Agricultural Technologies Endomycorrhizae, and native mycorrhizae within the native soil, on two prairie grasses, Bothriochloa ischaemum and Andropogon gerardii. We hypothesized that the plants inoculated will have both a higher stem width and chlorophyll content. We also investigated weather one type of mycorrhizae was better than the other or if both in combination was better. Using a full factorial design plants were divided randomly into four treatment groups, Commercial mycorrhizae inoculum absent—sterilized prairie soil (No mycorrhizae present), Commercial mycorrhizae inoculum absent—non-sterilized prairie soil (Wild type mycorrhizae only), Commercial mycorrhizae inoculum present—sterilized prairie soil (Commercial type mycorrhizae only), Commercial mycorrhizae inoculum present—non-sterilized prairie soil (Both commercial and Wild type mycorrhizae). Measurements were taken on survivorship, stem diameter, chlorophyll content, and biomass. We did not have any significant difference between inoculation or soil treatment levels for biomass, stem diameter, and chlorophyll content.
The Effect Commercial and Wild Mycorrhizae have on Plant Biomass
Effects of Commercial Mycorrhizal Inocula vs. Native Prairie Fungi on Biomass and Leaf NumberOn Desmodium canadense and Salvia azurea
The purpose of this eight-week study was to determine the affect of commercial mycorrizhae on the overall survivability and growth within Salvia azurea and Desmodium canadense. The work done in this experiment is important because there is very little scientific knowledge in the field of commerical mycorrizhea effectiveness within greenhouse plants. In the conduction of this experiment, there was 48 total plants used, as 24 plants for each species was observed Of the 24 plants from a single species, 4 treatment groups with 6 plants were created. The different treatment groups were living prairie soil with commercial inoculum, living soil with no inoculum, sterilized prairie soil with commercial inoculum, and sterilized prairie soil with no commercial inoculum. During lab, leaf number for both species were counted and recorded. On the last week of the experiment, flower number for Salvia azurea was counted as well as the root and shoot biomass for both both species. ANOVA’s were created in SPSS so that the information could be interpreted and analyzed. In conclusion of this experiment, we discovered that Salvia azurea had a better overall growth to the mycorrizhae, both natural and commercial, while the Desmodium canadense had an increase in leaf number in response to comercial mycorrizhea innoculum. From this experiement, we have learned that some species are reliant on mycorrizhae realtions for sustainablilty, while other plant species are not as dependent on the organism for increased success.
The Effects of Commercial VS. Native Inoculum on Growth of Helianthus annuus and Ratibida columnifera
The purpose of this study was to find the effects of commercial versus native inoculum on growth of Helianthus annuus and Ratibida columnifera. Specifically how it impacted the chlorophyll content and leaf number. This was important to conduct to find if it is necessary for plants to have their native inoculum for optimum growth or if they can grow just as well, if not better with commercial inoculum. We set up four treatment methods that each had six replicates of Ratibida columnifera and six replicates of Helianthus annuus four a total of forty eight plants. The first treatment had the commercial inoculum present and non-sterilized prairie soil, the second had commercial inoculum present and sterilized prairie soil, the third had no inoculum present and non-sterilized prairie soil, and the fourth had no inoculum present and sterilized prairie soil. Each week we tracked the growth by leaf chlorophyll content using a SPAD meter and counting the number of leaves on each plant. At the end of the experiment period we analyzed the results using ANOVA and SPSS to determine the effect, if any the commercial inoculum and sterilized soil had on a plant's’ growth. For the most part our results showed no effect on the variables we tested. From this study we can conclude that if we want to continue to test our variable we would need to allow for a longer experiment period.
Effect of Plant-Mycorrhizal Fungi on Plant Water Uptake and Chlorophyll Content
Premise of the study: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal interactions with plants can affect certain plants’ physiology by influencing how they absorb nutrients from the soil as well as the subsequent effects on plant growth and health. Methods: We conducted an experiment using two species of grasses, Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis, to determine whether (1) the presence of mycorrhizal inoculum affects plant chlorophyll content and water uptake, (2) the soil type (natural or sterilized) affects plant chlorophyll content and water uptake, (3) the soil treatment has any affect with relation to the presence of mycorrhizal inoculum. Key Results: Across samples there appeared to be no significant correlation between inoculum treatment and mean chlorophyll content. There was; however, a significant correlation between soil treatment and mean chlorophyll content, for both species, favoring sterilized soil treatment. For water uptake only Elymus canadensis showed any significant correlation between inoculum treatment/ soil treatment and mean water uptake. The results suggest and increased water uptake in plants that were planted in sterilized soil, with the most water content belonging to the plants with inoculum added. Conclusions: The presence of mycorrhizal inoculum has no affect on chlorophyll content in either species of plant; however, mycorrhizal inoculum does play a significant role in the uptake of water by Elymus canadensis suggesting that different species of plants react more positively in the presence of mycorrhizal inoculum.
The Effects of Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculum and Soil Type on Sorghum bicolor and Sorghastrum nutans Based on Chlorophyll Content and Stem Diameter
Premise of Study The purpose of this study was to analyze plant growth in the presence of commercial mycorrhizae in sterile and non-sterile (native) soil. The presence of mycorrhizae is relevant for crop producers world-wide. Mycorrhizae could help grow a stealthier and more abundant crop. Methods Fourty-eight plants were grown in cone-tainers for eight weeks. Half of the plants were Sorghum bicolor and the other twenty-four were Sorghastrum nutans. Each species was then divided into four separate groups: Sterile soil with commercial mycorrhizae, sterile soil without commercial mycorrhizae, non-sterile soil with commercial mycorrhizae, and non-sterile soil without commercial mycorrhizae. The plants were measure for three weeks for chlorophyll content and stem diameter. At the end of the eight weeks they were harvested and root and shoot biomass were weighed. Key Results Sterile soil had a significant effect on the stem diameter of Sorghum bicolor. It also had a significant effect on the chlorophyll content of Sorghastrum nutans. The overall biomass of both species of plants was increased in sterile soil. Conclusion There was no significant effect from mycorrhizae inoculum in any of the data gathered. This could be due to the type of commercial inoculum used or the species of plants used. Overall, the sterile soil had a positive effect on the plants.
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The purpose for this study was to differentiate between two types of Mycorrhizae, native vs commercial, and to test the nutrient uptake displayed by growth potential in two different species of prairie grass, Bothriocloa ischaemum, and Andropogon gerardii. There is a limited amount of studies regarding the effectiveness of native vs commercial Mycorrhizae growth potential. METHODS: The methods used to test growth potential after the introduction of Mycorrhizae into two different species of prairie grass, Bothriocloa ischaemum, and Andropogon gerardii. Measurements were recorded using stem diameter and length over a three-week period; data was then recorded using Excel spreadsheet. At the end of the three-week period all of the plants were harvested in order to calculate their biomass. KEY RESULTS: The results of our experiment are displayed in our statistical analysis using the SPSS program which revealed a significance P-value in growth of the sterile soil inoculated with commercial Mycorrhizae. CONCLUSIONS: Our research indicates a significant increase in growth rate and biomass in species inoculated with commercial Mycorrhizae in sterilized soil samples. This further supports our hypothesis and will contribute to a better understanding in future studies when comparing different types of Mycorrhizae.
EFFECT OF MYCORRHIZA INOCULATION ON BIOMASS AND CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT
This study researched the relationship of mycorrhiza inoculum and two plant species, Desmanthus illinoensis (Di) and Monarda fistulosa (Mf) respectively. The relationship was measured using chlorophyll content as well as final above and below ground biomass. We used unsterilized soil as well as sterilized soil and added inoculum to half of the plants studied while the other half were not treated with inoculum. Each treatment was repeated six times. We made weekly measurements on the chlorophyll content throughout the study and measured the above and below ground dry biomass the final week. We found that the soil treatment produced more significant results than the presence or absence of inoculum in Di and Mf species. This was shown in the measurements of chlorophyll content measured and analyzed using ANOVA analysis to determine whether or not unsterilized soil had a larger content than non-sterilized soil. Since chlorophyll content was unaffected by inoculum treatment, it appears the presence of the fungi does not hinder or aid the plant in photosynthesis. Inoculation only effected belowground biomass, as the fungi contributes its own weight to the roots of both species. The sterilization treatment of the soil did yield positive results for all variables presumably due to the fact that sterilization exterminates all parasitic organisms, therefore eliminating any competing elements and allowing the plants to develop substantially/produce nutrients through photosynthesis.
FUNgi! How Mycorrhizal Fungi Affects the Growth of Desmodium Canadense and Salvia Azurea
When fungi are mentioned along with any plant species it is widely thought of as a negative relationship, however this may not always be the case. It seems there is still much to learn about the relationships that mycorrhizal fungi forms with the plants it interacts with. To better our understanding, we tested this over an 8-week period by separating our species into 4 variable groups per species, being (LI)=Living prairie soil; inoculated with commercial mycorrhizal inoculum, (SI)=Sterilized prairie soil, inoculated with commercial mycorrhizal inoculum, (LN)=Living prairie soil, not inoculated with commercial mycorrhizal inoculum, and (SN)=Sterilized prairie soil, not inoculated with commercial mycorrhizal inoculum. For week one, we transported each plant to their respective groups and placed them in a controlled environment grow room to be watered regularly by our lab TA. Weeks four through seven, we measured the growth of each plant in cm. and recorded our data in an excel file. Upon the end of the experiment at week eight, we harvested the plants by removing them from their pots and washing off all of the excess dirt on their roots. After dried, the plants were placed in paper bags to be placed aside until our next lab period. When we returned to lab, the plants were cut into small pieces and weighed in grams.
Opposing and Beneficial Mycorrhizal Effects on Flower Growth
Our study tested whether plants grow better in sterilized soils with no mycorrhizae, in sterilized soil with mycorrhizae, non-sterilized soil without mycorrhizae, or non-sterilized soil with mycorrhizae. Each lab group had different plants to test and had different commercial mycorrhizae inoculated into their soil. The purpose of the experiments was to determine how different strains of mycorrhizae affect different plants’ attributes. How we tested this was by having 48 with 24 being the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and 24 being the Mexican Hat (Ratibida columnifera). We further divided the 2 groups into 4 groups of 6 plants per species. We tested these plants by growing a group of each species in soil that is sterilized inoculated, sterilized not inoculated, non-sterilized inoculated, and non-sterilized non-inoculated. In our results we found that Sterilization of soil to be the greatest effect to both species with it being negative relationship with Ha and a positive relationship with Rc.
The Effects that Native, Commercial, and Absent Mycorrhizae have on the Cellular Growth and Development of Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis in both Sterilized and Non-sterilized Prairie Soils.
In our experiment we used Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi to form a relationship with the plant and the soil to compensate for the lacking nutrients. The purpose of this study was to determine if the AM Fungi helped aid plants with the uptake of nutrients. We used the plants Bromus inermis and Elymus canadenis, non-sterilized and sterilized soil, inoculated and non inoculated. Over the course of a month we measured the diameter of the stem and the chlorophyll content of each individual plant. The last week of the experiment we measure each individual plant’s biomass (above ground and underground). We had no significant results in the differentiation of each plant species when compared to inoculated and non inoculated. Our conclusion was that both plant species were positively affected by being in sterilized soil, regardless of the inoculate type.
Effects of Native and Commercial Mycorrhizae on Sorghum bicolor and Sorghastrum nutans
Mycorrhizal fungi grow in mutually beneficial symbiotic relationships with plant roots. This symbiosis can result in increased plant growth as measured by dry mass of the plant, stem diameter, and plant height. We predicted that the success of interaction would be dependent on sympatric relationships between the plant, soil, and fungi. We grew Sorghum bicolor (Sb) and Sorghastrum nutans (Sn) with four growth treatments: (1) living prairie soil and commercial mycorrhizae, (2) sterilized prairie soil and commercial mycorrhizae, (3) living, non-inoculated prairie soil, and (4) sterilized, non-inculcated prairie soil. Soil type had the greatest impact on Sb while the presence of commercial mycorrhizae had the greatest impact of Sn.
The Effect of Commercial Mycorrhizal Fungi on Warm-Season Grasses
Vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza is the symbiotic relationship between the root systems of plants and a fungi that aids in nutrient intake. Fungi colonizes directly in the root system and maximizes surface area to aid the plant in nutrient uptake while also providing nutrients for the fungi (Pace, 2013). There have been many studies published in scientific literature that support the theory that adding mycorrhizal fungi to a soil substrate significantly increases average plant growth in nutrient-poor soils, a practice that has been beneficial to agricultural lands. In our experiment, we used arbuscular mycorrhizae species to test the effects of commercial mycorrhizal inoculum on plant biomass and compared it with wild prairie mycorrhizae. The plants being tested were classified as C4 Grasses (warm-season), which consists of Bothriochloa ischaemum and Andropogon gerardii, both coming from the same seed source in Healy, Kansas. We hypothesized that the plants in our experiment would have the greatest increase in plant biomass, stem size, and height of the grass when grown in soil with both the commercial mycorrhizal inoculum and the wild prairie mycorrhizae. Our research neither confirmed nor denied our hypothesis due to a lack of statistically significant results but it did suggest there wasn’t a symbiotic relationship between the wild prairie mycorrhizal fungi present in the live soil and the species of grasses we tested. Further research can be done to improve upon our methods and to understand the complex relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and plants.