Determination of Acaulospora longula and Glomus subgroup Aa in plant roots from grassland using new primers against the large subunit ribosomal DNA.

Molecular techniques have become increasingly important for the identification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In this work Acaulospora longula and Glomus mosseae have been detected in plant roots from pastures using specific nucleotide primers for the two species. Part of the 5' end of the large subunit of the ribosomal RNA gene was amplified by nested PCR and sequenced. The distribution of the fungi within three different plant species, Plantago lanceolata, Trifolium repens, and Holcus lanatus, and two different types of grassland, have been studied. Neither the fungi nor the plants showed specific preference for their symbiotic partnership.