Response of castor bean to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and levels of phosphorus

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of castor bean inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and different levels of P in the soil. The experiment was carried out under greenhouse condition, in Londrina-PR, using disinfected sandy soil (LVd) as substrate, in pots with capacity of 4 kg. The treatments were conducted in a randomized factorial design, using Iris castor bean cultivar. The treatments with mycorrhizal were: Control, Gigaspora margarita, Glomus clarum, and a mixture of species, and five levels of P (0, 20, 40, 80, 160 mg P kg soil-1), with four replicates. There were evaluated: dry mass, content of P in the shoot and mycorrhization. There was a significant effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation on the dry mass and in the P content in the shoot. The addition of P influenced, significantly, the production of dry mass and P content in the plant tissue, however it decreases the root colonization and mycorrhizal sporulation. The castor bean show dependence of AMF in soil with low levels of P.