Characterization and evalulation of CMCC germplasm for their specific applications

This project would essentially characterize the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal germplasm collected over a period of 10 years in the Centre for Mycorrhizal Culture Collection (CMCC) at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). This sub-project would explore the unique advantages and the accompanying disadvantages of the accessions at CMCC and selects the accessions with special applications by (i) analyzing fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profile to further strengthen the taxonomic characterization, (ii) molecular characterization using 18s DNA of different AM fungal species and isolates to further supplement the taxonomic characterization, (iii) testing AM fungal isolates (both consortium as well as monosporal cultures) at three different levels of phosphorus, viz., low phosphorus, medium phosphorus and high phosphorus to select specific AM fungal isolates for specific phosphorus conditions, (iv) screening AM fungal isolates for glomalin production