First Report of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Different Varieties of Cucurbita maxima grown in the United States

Jonathan D Hulse^1,2*

¹Clemson University, Poole Agricultural Center, Jersey Ln, Clemson, USA
²Miami University, Center for Advanced Microscopy and Imaging, Oxford, USA

*Corresponding Author: Jonathan D Hulse, Clemson University, Poole Agricultural Center and Miami University, Center for Advanced Microscopy and Imaging, Oxford, USA.

Received: May 04, 2018; Published: June 08, 2018

Citation: Jonathan Daniel Hulse. “First Report of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Different Varieties of Cucurbita maxima grown in the United States". Acta Scientific Agriculture 2.7 (2018).

Abstract

  Nearly 80% of herbaceous plants form relationships with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF), which are often beneficial to the host, by acquiring limited resources, such as phosphorus and water. The cucurbit, Cucurbita maxima is an incredibly diverse species, and suggested to have more cultivated forms than any other crop species. C. maxima has many medicinal uses, including anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties, and is also a major food source due to its fiber content, carbohydrates, β-carotene, vitamins, alkaloids, minerals, fatty acids, flavonoid, and diverse polysaccharide content. Currently, the scientific literature is missing definitive documentation of an AMF association with Cucurbita maxima in the United States of America. This study utilizes light microscopy as supportive evidence to show an arbuscular mycorrhizal relationship with different varieties of Cucurbita maxima.

Keywords: Mycorrhizae; Fungi; Cucurbita maxima; Cucurbitaceae; Glomeromycota; Glomeromycetes; AMF; Arbuscule; Vessicle

Copyright: © 2018 Jonathan Daniel Hulse. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.