Morphogenetic modifications induced by the mycorrhizal fungus Glomus strain E3 in the root system of Allium porrum L

SUMMARY Morphometric analysis, modelling and histological techniques were used to study root morphogenesis in nonmycorrhizal and mycorrhizal plants of Allium porrum infected by a Glomus sp., strain E3, during the first 105 days after sowing. They showed that morphogenetic changes were induced by the fungus in the root system of the host. Adventitious roots of mycorrhizal plants became more numerous and shorter than those of controls, as mycorrhizal infection proceeded. Increase in number was fitted by logistic curves in mycorrhizal and control plants; increase in length was fitted in both cases by logistic curves. Mycorrhizal roots became progressively more branched than controls: branching increased linearly with time in mycorrhizas, whereas in the controls it showed an almost constant frequency from day 49 onwards and was fitted by a logistic curve. There was a significant depression of mitotic index demonstrated in the apical meristems of vesicular‐arbuscular mycorrhizas.