International Journal of Pure & Applied Bioscience (IJPAB)
Year : 2016, Volume : 4, Issue : 1
First page : (253) Last page : (264)
Article doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2320-7051.2222
Occurrence and Diversity of Soil Mycoflora in Some Selected Brassica Growing Agricultural Fields of Dehradun District of Uttarakhand Himalaya
Saurabh Guleri*, Seema Saxena, Poonam Sharma, Nivedita Malik and Meena Thapliyal
Shri Guru Ram Rai P.G. College, Dehradun, Uttarakhand-248001 India
*Corresponding Author E-mail: gulerisaurabh26@gmail.com
Received: 17.02.2016 | Revised: 22.02.2016 | Accepted: 26.02.2016
Abstract
Soil is an oligotrophic medium for fungal growth. Fungi are important component in soil microbiota. Depending on soil depth and nutrient conditions, the fungal biomass exceeds that of bacteria in almost every soil except rhizosphere soil which is dominated by bacteria. Filamentous fungi in soil degrade organic matter and help in soil aggregation. Some produce substances similar to humic substances and some are capable of forming ectotrophic associations on the root system of forest trees and help in mobilisation of soil phosphorus and nitrogen into plants. Many fungi are biological control agents for plant pathogens and insect pests. In Uttarakhand especially in Dehradun District very scanty information is available regarding soil inhabiting microfungi of Agricultural fields. Therefore some agricultural lands growing Brassica crop were selected to study the composition, dominance and diversity of microfungi and physico-chemical properties of the soil inhabited by these fungi.
Five agricultural lands viz. Rajawala (RAJ), Bahadarpur(BAH), Bhauwala (BHAU), Telpura (TLP) and Sudhowala (SUDH) were selected. Each land was surveyed repeatedly to collect soil samples. Soil samples were collected from different depths viz. 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-15 cm, 15-20 cm. and 20-25 cm and composite samples were made for each agricultural land.
For all soil samples examined, pH varied from 6.42±1.24 to 7.84±1.56; moisture content varied from8.42±1.68 to 10.84±2.16; organic contents varied from 1.55 to 3.00 and texture varied from sandy to sandy loam. Micronutrients were very high in all the soil samples. A total of 383 colonies of microfungi belonging to 11 genera and 26 species were isolated. Anamorphic fungi (Deuteromycota) were dominant and represented by 9 genera and 22 species followed by Zygomycota represented by 2 genera and 4 species. Fungal populations were always highest in surface soil and decreased along with soil-depth. Maximum fungal species were isolated from BAH at the depth of 0-10 cm followed by RAZ, whereas the minimum fungal species were isolated from BHAU, TPR and SUDH at the depth of 15-20 cm. Of the total 26 species recorded, 8 species were of common occurrence, 9 species of frequent, 8 species of moderate and 1 species of rare occurrence respectively.
Shanon- Wiever index of species diversity was highest (2.734) in BAH followed by RAZ (2.686), TLP (2.583) and SUDH (2.553) while it was lowest for BHAU (2.540). Simpson index of diversity also showed identical trends. Highest similarity (84.2%) was observed between RAJ and BAH and lowest (55.6%) between RAJ and TLP.
The present investigation will be helpful in documentation and conservation as well as in controlling soil borne pathogens. Further, it certainly opens up a new horizon for the researchers in this interesting and challenging field of soil microfungal biodiversity.
Key words: Diversity, Soil mycoflora, Brassica, Agriculture, Dehradun District
Full Text : PDF; Journal doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782
Cite this article: Guleri, S., Saxena, S., Sharma, P., Malik, N. and Thapliyal, M., Occurrence and Diversity of Soil Mycoflora in Some Selected Brassica Growing Agricultural Fields of Dehradun District of Uttarakhand Himalaya, Int. J. Pure App. Biosci. 4(1): 253-264 (2016). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2320-7051.2222
