FUNGI ANDFUNGAL-LIKE’ORGANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH ROOT SYSTEMS OF CUCURBITA MAXIMA AND THE SURROUNDING RHIZOSPHERE

摘要: Cucurbita maxima is an incredibly diverse species, and it is suggested to have more cultivated forms than any other crop. It has many medicinal uses including anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. It is also a major food source for wide variety of world cultures, due to its fiber content, carbohydrates, ß-carotene, vitamins, alkaloids, minerals, fatty acids, flavonoids, and polysaccharides. Detection of root-associated microbes in C. maxima has not been well documented in the scientific literature. A multi-phase approach was implemented to first verify fungal associations in C. maxima, and then second, to document the colonization of fungi in C. maxima grown in a conventional agricultural system. Cucurbita maxima grown in southwest Ohio showed relationships with members of the Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridomycota, Glomeromycota, Dark Septate Endophytes, and Plasmodiophorid Slime Molds. This study provides a first report of a relationship between Dark Septate Endophytes, Glomeromycota, Olpidium spp., and Plasmodiophorid Slime Molds in C. maxima in the United States. The images provided in this manuscript are the first photographic documentation of these organisms in C. maxima to date.