Contents: Preface. 1. Endomycorrhizal diversity/A. Singh, R. Kumari, A.P. Garg and A. Varma. 2. Occurrence of arbuscular mycorrhizae in the Rhizosphere of Himalayan yew (Taxus baccata L. subsp. Wallichiana (Zucc.) Pilger)--A case study/B. Chaurasia, A. Pandey and L.M.S. Palni. 3. Mycorrhizal association and soil microflora in sustainable utilization of micropropagated plants in vegetable crops of hill and mountainous region/R.K. Gupta and M. Sharma. 4. Molecular mechanism in the symbiotic association between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizae/M.S.K. Jaidev and A.K. Dubey. 5. Quantitative analysis of gene expression in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis/P.J. Lammers, J. Abubaker, M. Govindrajulu, J. Jun, O. Krijgsman, and M. de Jong. 6. Interaction of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and A.M. Fungi: present status and future prospects/R. Dey, K.K. Pal and K.V.B.R. Tilak. 7. Phosphorus metabolism and regulation by symbiotic fungi/V. Yadav, P.K. Verma and A. Varma. 8. Using fatty acids to quantify arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi/V.J. Allison and R.M. Miller. 9. Phosphorus and mycorrhizae of seedlings from low-phytate maize seed/T.P. McGonigle and V. Raboy. 10. Genets of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycota/B.R. Kropp. 11. Global gene expression analysis in ectomycorrhizal fungi: a means to study nutritional and environmental effect on symbiosis/G.K. Podila, S. Balasubramanian, M.J. Hymes and J.H. Brand. 12. Breeding ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes: some protocols and strategies/B.R. Kropp. 13. Specialization in cheaters of the mycorrhizal mutualism/M.I. Bidartondo. 14. Iron chelating microbial plant protectants in Banana Rhizosphere/N.V. Phirke, S.K. Talegaonkar, R.M. Kothari and S.B. Chincholkar. 15. Piriformospora indica: gungus of the millennium/R. Kumari, G.H. Pham, R. Prasad, M. Sachdev, A. Srivastava, V. Yadav, P.K. Verma, S. Sharma, R. Malla, A. Singh, A.K. Maurya, S. Prakash, A. Pareek, K.H. Rexer, G. Kost, A.P. Garg, R. Oelmueller, M.C. Sharma and A. Varma. 16. Biodynamics of below-ground animal resources and interaction/G. Tripathy and R. Prasad. 17. Biohardening of tissue culture-raised grape (vitis vinefera L.) ev. Pusa Navrang plantlets using AM fungi for their enhanced in vitro survival/Minakshi, H. Krishana, S.K. Singh, R.N. Khawale and S. Pal. 18. Biological hardening of micropropagated plants of horticultural importance/R. Kumari, A.P. Garg and A. Varma. 19. Interaction of medicinal plants with PGPRs and symbiotic fungi/R. Prasad, A.P. Garg and A. Varma. 20. Cultivation of symbiotic fungi/R. Kumari, A. Singh, A.P. Garg and A. Varma. 21. Protocol to understand the interaction between Rhizobacteria and symbiotic fungus: Piriformospora indica/G.H. Pham, A. Srivastava, A.K. Saxena, A. Pareek and A. Varma. 22. Culturing of plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria/A.K. Saxena, Lata, R. Shende and A.K. Pandey. 23. Methods for microbial iron chelator (siderophore) analysis/M.R. Rane, B.S. Naphade, R.Z. Sayyed and S.B. Chincholkar. Subject Index.
"Mycorrhizal research has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decades. These fungi promise to promote plant growth, maintain plant and soil health, bio-protection against root diseases, production with reduced fertilizer and pesticides, nutrient acquisition, affect soil skeletal structure holding primary soil particles together, conductive to formation of microaggregate structures, higher rhizosphere population, symbiosis alters host water relations, alter root length and architecture. Fungi help in re-vegetation of landscapes, golf course or contaminated soils, biological hardening of tissue culture raised plants, postpones leaf dehydration, draught responses, osmo-protecting enzymes and enhance P acquisition. AM symbiosis could conceivably affect any of these steps. AMF should be considered alternative to costly soil disinfection. The mechanism(s) by which fungi induce resistance in their hosts and enhancing disease resistance need critical evaluation and examination. Editors see this volume as a tremendously valuable collection of specialized up-date chapters describing the state-of-art and modern protocols in mycorrhizal research, seriously presented and synthesized."
