Saran's Learn Microbiology

  Biopesticides Biopesticides are the types of natural pesticides derived from such natural materials as animals, plants, microorganisms, and certain minerals. The term Biopesticides defines compounds that are used to manage insect pests by means of specific biological effects rather than as broader chemical pesticides Biopesticides can be used to eliminate several different types of pests from Agricultural crops. Biopesticides is a broad term and includes Bioinsecticides, Biobactericides, Biofungicides, Bioherbicides and Bionematicides. Biobactericides and Biofungicides are combinedly referred as Biocontrol agents.   Classes of Biopesticides a) Biochemical Biopesticides Biochemical pesticides are naturally occurring substances that control pests by non-toxic mechanisms. Conventional pesticides, by contrast, are generally synthetic materials that directly kill or inactivate the pe...

Challenges in AM Fungal Inoculant Production The production of AM Fungal crude inoculum on a large-scale remains very challenging even though new methods for massive production and seed coating technology have been developed in recent years. AM Fungal are obligate symbionts and cannot be cultivated in pure cultures, away from their host plants. This constraining feature makes the large-scale production of AM Fungal inocula very challenging and complex. In fact, the species list declared in a commercial inoculum label does not always correspond accurately to the actual inoculum composition. The absence of a prompt method for assessing whether and to what extent the host plant is colonized by AM Fungal also contributes to making AM Fungal agricultural usability challenging. The management of the high amount of inoculum necessary for large-scale application is also a demanding process. AM Fungal inoculation could be limited to small portions of a field, and this would gradually lead to ...

Role of AM Fungi in Bioremediation of Heavy metals in Soil Heavy metals may accumulate in food crops, fruits, vegetables, and soils, causing various health hazards. AM Fungi can potentially promote plant growth in contaminated soils, a capacity commonly referred to as bioremediation. AM Fungi are widely believed to support plant establishment in soils contaminated with heavy metals, because of their potential to strengthen defense system of the plants to promote growth and development. Plants grown on soils enriched with Heavy metals exhibit considerable suppression in shoot and root growth, leaf chlorosis, and even death. Heavy metals can be immobilized in the fungal hyphae of internal and external origin that have the ability to fix heavy metals in the cell wall and store them in the vacuole or may chelate with some other substances in the cytoplasm and hence reduce metal toxicity in the plants. AM Fungi reportedly bind with Heavy metals in the cell wall of mantle hyphae and cortica...

AM Fungi and Abiotic Stress a) Drought (Extreme dryness) ·        Drought stress affects plant life in many ways. Shortage of water to roots reduces rate of Transpiration as well as induces Oxidative stress. ·        Drought stress imparts deleterious effects on plant growth by affecting ü   Enzyme activity ü   Ion uptake ü   Nutrient assimilation ·       Plant tolerance to drought could be primarily due to a large volume of soil explored by roots and the extra-radical hyphae of the fungi. ·        Symbiotic relationship of various plants with AM Fungi ultimately improves ü   Root size and efficiency, ü   Leaf area index ü   Leaf water relations ü   Biomass ü   Gas exchange ü   Osmotic adjustment ü   Stomatal regulation and conductance ü   Transpiration rate ü   Accumulation of pr...

Field Application for AM Fungal Biofertilizer a) Seed Treatment For 1 kg Seed treatment, mix 2 - 10 gm (Depending on seed size) of powder Mycorrhiza biofertilizer in sufficient quantity of water. b) Soil Treatment Mix 4 - 5 kg of Granular AM Mycorrhizal biofertilizer with 50 kg power in Cow Dung/ Vermicompost/Soil. Blend well and broadcast it over one acre of land at the time of sowing. It can be used from sowing to 50 day of crop. c) For Drip Irrigation An amount of 100 gm powder AM Mycorrhiza with 200 L of water is used for Drip irrigation. d) For Spray Mix 50 gm powder Mycorrhiza with 100 L water and spray near the root zone. e) For Trees For trees, Mycorrhizal biofertilizers are applied by two methods. Method – 1 : Mix 100 gm of granular Mycorrhiza biofertilizer with 1 kg of soil/compost/FYM and apply it directly at the root zone of individual trees. Method – 2 : Mix 10 gm pf powder Mycorrhiza with 1 L of water and apply it directly at the root zone of ...