Ectomycorrhization of Acacia holosericea A. Cunn. ex G. Don by Pisolithus spp. in Senegal: Effect on plant growth and on the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica

The ectomycorrhization of Acacia holosericea with fungi isolated in Senegal (belonging to the Pisolithus genus) and their effect on Meloidogyne javanica have been studied. In 100 tree plantations of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Casuarina equisetifolia, Acacia mangium and A. holosericea, 33 fruiting bodies of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus were collected and cultured under axenic conditions. Only four fungal isolates have induced the formation of typical ectomycorrhizae with A. holosericea under axenic conditions. One of these, COI 024, increased plant development under glasshouse conditions and decreased the multiplication of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica. The mechanisms involved in these interactions and the potential use of the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in agroforestry programs are being discussed.