Abstract:
Rhizosphere is the soil adjecent to plant root system. It is a region of intense
microbial activity where root exudates allow the development of
microorganisms around the roots.
The objective of this study was to investigate the diversity of fungi in the
rice rhizosphere of the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka under drained and
water logging conditions. Water logging creates anaerobic condition in soil
while the soils of drained paddy fields create aerobic condition. In this
study, fungi were isolated from the rhizospheres of Bw 367, Bw 372 and
Bw 272-6B rice varieties grown under drained and water logging conditions
of paddy fields in the low country wet zone. The spread plate technique was
used to isolate and purify all the isolates on Potato Dextrose Agar medium.
A total of 41 fungal isolates were observed in the rice rhizosphere under
drained condition. Out of these 41 isolates, 18, 12 and 11 fungal isolates
were associated with the rhizospheres of Bw 367, Bw 372 and Bw 272-6B
rice varieties respectively. Out of 32 fungal isolates recorded in the rice
rhizozphere under water logging condition, 13, 08 and11 fungal isolates
were isolated from Bw 367, Bw 372 and Bw 272-6B rice varieties
respectively. Accroding to the results, fungal diversity of the rice
rhizosphere depends on the rice variety and the aerobic or anaerobic nature
of the paddy soil.
