Extraction of extraradical arbuscular mycorrhizal mycelium from compartments filled with soil and glass beads

This study presents a novel method for the extraction and quantification of extraradical mycelium (ERM) of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) from a substrate that simulates soil better than previously used artificial growth media. Fungal compartments were constructed from small net pots with a latticed wall and filled with a mixture of glass beads and 40 m wet sieved soil. The net pots were surrounded by a 30-m mesh membrane through which hyphae but not roots could grow. They were inserted into soil where a Glomus intraradices (BEG 110) colonized potato plant was growing. The ERM that had grown out from roots through the membrane was successfully collected and quantified after harvest by washing out the soil/glass bead mixture through a sieve with a mesh width of 40 m. Concentrations of P, Zn, Cu and Mn in the AMF ERM were analysed.