The effectiveness of different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on different hybrid cucumber cultivars has not been well documented, even under normal seedling conditions. The present study therefore aimed to evaluate colonization, nutrient uptake, dependency, and other seedling traits of 4 cucumber hybrids. | Ş. TÜFENKÇİ, S. DEMİR, S. ŞENSOY, H. ÜNSAL, E. DEMİRER, Ç. ERDİNÇ, Ş. BİÇER, A. EKİNCİALP Research Article Turk J Agric For 36 (2012) 317-327 © TÜBİTAK doi: The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the seedling growth of four hybrid cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) cultivars Şefik TÜFENKÇİ1, Semra DEMİR2, Suat ŞENSOY3,*, Hüsameddin ÜNSAL1, Emre DEMİRER2, Çeknas ERDİNÇ3, Şeyhmus BİÇER3, Aytekin EKİNCİALP3 1 Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Agricultural Faculty, Yüzüncü Yıl University, 65080 Van - TURKEY 2 Department of Plant Protection, Agricultural Faculty, Yüzüncü Yıl University, 65080 Van - TURKEY 3 Department of Horticulture, Agricultural Faculty, Yüzüncü Yıl University, 65080 Van - TURKEY Received: Abstract: The effectiveness of different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on different hybrid cucumber cultivars has not been well documented, even under normal seedling conditions. The present study therefore aimed to evaluate colonization, nutrient uptake, dependency, and other seedling traits of 4 cucumber hybrids (Ceren F1, Beta F1, Silyon F1 and Maraton F1) inoculated by 3 different AMF [Glomus intraradices (Gi), Glomus etunicatum (Ge) and Gigaspora margarita (Gm)]. Traits were evaluated in a growth chamber experiment consisting of a 4 × 4 factorial design (4 cucumber hybrids, 3 AMF plus 1 control) with 3 random replications. AMF-inoculated cucumber seedlings had shorter hypocotyledons and wider and longer cotyledons than non-inoculated seedlings. Gm-inoculated seedlings had the narrowest stem diameter and lowest leaf number. AMF-inoculated seedlings had shorter shoots and longer roots than noninoculated ones. There was significant mycorrhizal effect on the iron (Fe) content of shoots and the mycorrhizal colonization rate in roots. Relative mycorrhizal dependency (RMD) varied widely among the hybrid cucumber cultivars tested. It is thought that the determination of high-RMD cultivars could lead to .
