VIEW ARTICLE

Symposium on Mycorrhizae and Plant Disease Research

Synoptic Keys to the Genera and Species of Zygomycetous Mycorrhizal Fungi. J. M. Trappe, Principal mycologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Corvallis, OR 97331. Phytopathology 72:1102-1107. Copyright 1982 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-72-1102.

The literature on differential effects of zygomycetous vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizal fungi on hosts is now ample. Given the same environment, different fungi may affect a host in different ways. Change the environment. especially the soil, and still different interactions can occur. To interpret results soundly, researchers need to know which fungi are involved in their experiments. Applications of mycorrhizal research to the improvement of crop productivity will succeed only if fungi that are right for the crop and the environment are selected with appropriate sophistication.