Plant and Soil

, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp 238–248 | Cite as

Studies on microbial antagonism in the establishment of clover pasture

I. The number of species and percentage frequency of occurrence of the major fungi
  • A. A. Holland
Article
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Revised:

Summary

Fungi inhabiting soil recently cleared of the native vegetation have been isolated and compared with those isolated from under established clover pastures, Three methods of isolation of the fungi were used in each situation, and profoundly influenced the population obtained.

In newly cleared soils the composite fungal population pattern deduced all three isolation methods comprised species of Mortierella, Phoma, Trichoderma, Penicillium, Fusarium, Sclerotium and non-sporing mycelia. In soil supporting established clover pastures the main rhizosphere fungi were species of Fusarium, Aspergillus, Phoma, Curvularia, Macrophomina, Sclerotium and one Ascomycete.Fusarium oxysporum was the most frequently isolated fungus.

Conventional plating techniques suggested that the dominant fungi in the rhizosphere of clover wereFusarium oxysporum andAspergillus versicolor, whereas isolation of fungi from hyphae adhering to the clover roots indicated that species of Macrophomina, Curvularia and an Ascomycete were the most abundantly occurring organisms. In the case of the root residues of the native vegetation in newly cleared soils plating techniques resulted in species of the freely sporing Mortierella, Trichoderma, Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium occurring most frequently, whereas the isolation of fungi from hyphal strands on the residues gave a population pattern dominated by species of Mortierella, Phoma, Sclerotium, and non-sporing mycelia.

The study indicated a marked succession of fungal species during the decomposition of the root debris in newly cleared soils, and also that some early members of this changing population might exert an adverse effect on the establishment of clover.

Keywords

Aspergillus Fusarium Penicillium Trichoderma Fusarium Oxysporum 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Martinus Nijhoff 1966

Authors and Affiliations

  • A. A. Holland
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Institute of AgricultureUniversity of Western AustraliaNedlands

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