Efficient Mycorrhizal Inoculum Production

Based on the results of the AMF screening conducted by Huang et al. [24 (link)] on walnuts, Diversispora spurca (BGC SD03A), a potentially efficient mycorrhizal fungal strain, was used in the present study. The fungal strain was supplied by the Bank of Glomales in China (BGC) (Beijing, China). This fungal strain was separated from tomato roots in Shouguang (Shandong, China) and proliferated by trap cultures using identified spores and white clover as the host plant grown in autoclaved (121 °C, 0.11 MPa, 1.5 h) substrates for 3 months. The above-ground parts of white clover were then removed from the pots, and both root segments and growth substrates were collected and used as mycorrhizal inoculums where the spore density was 26 spores/g [39 (link)]. The mycorrhizal inoculums were dried and kept at 4 °C for no more than 6 months.