Effect of different inocula of vesicular‐arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on manganese content and concentration in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) plants

summary Three sterilized acid soils were inoculated with vesicular‐arbuscalar (VA) mycorrhizal fungi. Inocula consisted of mixtures of line + coarse type endophytes (Glomus tenue(Greenall) Hall plus either G. mosseae (Nicol and Gerd), G. fasciculatum (Thaxter sensu Gerd) Gerdemann and Trappe, G, epigaeum Daniels and Trappe or G. macrocarpum Tul and Tul var. geosporum, and native inocula). Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) was seeded in pots and grown in a glasshouse for four months, Root colonization by VA mycorrhizal fungi, plant growth and Mn content and concentration in shoots and roots, were studied. Mycorrhiza depressed the Mn concentration in shoots and roots of plants growing in all three soils, and the Mn uptake in one of them. On average, Mn concentration in mycorrhizal plants was 45% in shoots and 20% in roots of that found in non‐mycorrhizal controls.