Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Upland Rice in Bangladesh

Rice is an important staple food crop that nourishes more than 50% of the world population. In many hilly regions of Bangladesh, rice production is constrained by soil nutrient deficiencies. Plants can naturally overcome nutrient deficiencies, especially phosphorous deficiencies, through a mutualistic relationship with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Understanding the community composition and diversity of AMF in agricultural ecosystems is important for exploring their potential for sustainable crop production. In this study, we collected the rice root samples from upland rice fields under different agricultural practices in four districts of Bangladesh (Khagrachori, Rangamati, Chattogram, and Bandarban) and investigated the taxonomic diversity and community composition of the indigenous AMF by high throughput Illumina amplicon sequencing.