The ectomycorrhizal association benefit plants by providing an increase in the area of root absorption
and getting more nutrients and water as well as may enable growth of the host soils subjected to adverse
conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different ectomycorrhizal isolates on
seedling growth of
Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maid.,
Corymbia citriodora (Hook.) K. D. Hill & L.A.S.
Johnson,
Eucalyptus saligna Sm. and
Eucalyptus dunnii Maiden. The design was completely randomized
in a factorial arrangement (4 x 4), four species of Eucalyptus (
Eucalyptus grandis,
Corymbia citriodora,
Eucalyptus saligna and
Eucalyptus dunnii) and four ectomycorrhizal inoculum (UFSC - Pt116 (
Pisolithus microcarpus
(Cooke & Massee) Cunn), UFSC -132 (
Pisolithus tinctorius
(Pers.) Coker & Couch), UFSC
-121, and without inoculation) with 12 repetitions. After ninety days of conducting the experiment were
evaluated: the percentage of ectomycorrhizal colonization, plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves,
dry weight of root and shoot. Relationships were also calculated: dry aerial/root dry mass, height/diameter
and Dickson quality index. The plant height, leaf number and shoot dry mass showed higher average in the
species
Eucalyptus dunnii and
Corymbia citriodora, when the inoculation with UFSC -132. Inoculation
with UFSC-Pt116 resulted in 63,3 % of colonized roots in
Corymbia citriodora, while
Eucalyptus dunnii
inoculated with UFSC-121 had 67,7 % of its colonized roots. The isolated UFSC-132 provides enhanced
growth of seedlings of
Eucalyptus dunnii and
Corymbia citriodora compared to the control without
inoculation.
