Effect of mycorrhiza on the diversity and structure of the population of saprotrophic fungi occurring in the rhizosphere of tomato plants

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can be used for protection and stimulation of plant growth. The presence of a symbiont in the roots of plants causes a direct and indirect effect on rhizosphere microorganisms. The aim of studies conducted in 2015–2017 was to estimate the effect of endomycorrhizal fungi such as Claroideoglomus etunicatum and Rhizophagus intraradices on the population structure of saprotrophic fungi colonizing the rhizosphere of tomato plants cultivated in a plastic tunnel. The experiment was conducted at an ecological farm in Grądy (Lublin district), where the study object were tomato plants (‘Antalya F1’ – a Turkish hybrid) inoculated by two species of mycorrhizal fungi. The studies showed that AMF had a positive effect on biodiversity of the studied population and on increasing numbers of saprotrophic fungi such as Trichoderma spp., Penicillium spp., and Mucor spp. in the rhizosphere of tomato plant comparing to the control. The mycological analysis of the rhizosphere showed that C. etunicatum has a greater impact on the growth of saprotrophic fungi, especially Trichoderma spp., in tomato rhizosphere than R. intraradices.