균근연구(菌根硏究)의 농림업(農林業)에의 응용(應用)

Application of Mycorrhizal Research to Agriculture and Forestry

Recently mycorrhizal research has been one of the most fast-growing research areas in modern plant science and microbiology. The application potential of mycorrhizal techniques to agriculture and forestry is enormous in view of the ubiquitous nature of mycorrhizae and known benefits of mycorrhizae to host plants. Unfortunately, very few scientists in Korea are currently involved in mycorrhizal research. When a team of American plant pathologists visited Korea in September 1982 to participate in the Korea-U.S.A. Joint Seminar on Forest Diseases and Insect Pests, they were surprised by the principal author's statement that there was no single research project on mycorrhizae sponsored by Korean government or any scientific institutions. The author initiated a few years ago a research project on the ecology of tree mycorrhizae with a foreign financial support. Major areas of interest were survey of ectomycorrhizae in relation to soil fertility, taxonomic distribution of mycorrhizae among woody plants, identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi, and growth response of woody plants to artificial inoculation. In spite of the enormous application potential of mycorrhizae to agronomic plants, the subject of mycorrhizae has not been recognized by Korean agronomists, foresters or pathologists. The purpose of this review rather written in Korean is to introduce the techniques of mycorrhizal research to Korean scientists and to urge them to participate in challenging new scientific field which might bring us a remarkable increase in crop productivity and tree growth through manipulation of this unique symbiosis. In this review, following topics were discussed in the same order: introduction; brief history of mycorrhizal research; morphology and classification of mycorrhizae; distribution of mycorrhizae in plant kingdom and in soil profile; physiology of mycorrhizae (functions, mineral nutrition, mycorrhizal formation); interaction of mycorrhizae with soil-born plant pathogens. mycorrhizae in nitrogen-fixing plants; application of mycorrhizal techniques to nursery practices (isolation, culture, inoculation, and response); prospect in the future.