Background:

Symbiotic associations of plants with fungi are widely distributed, more than 90 % of terrestrial plants carry out this symbiosis. In Mexico, such associations with basal plant groups have been poorly explored, an example of this being the family Lycopodiaceae of which there are few studies related to this associations in our country.

Question:

The question underlying this work is what is the status of Phlegmariurus reflexus (Lycopodiaceae) regarding symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi?

Study site and years of study:

The sampling was carried out in March 2019, in a fragment of cloud forest, located in the municipality of San Andrés Tlalnelhuayocan, Veracruz.

Methods:

Two transects of 1 × 15 m were traced, in each one the roots of three different individuals were collected separated each one by 5 m. The roots were stored in bottles with FAA solution (Formaldehyde-Alcohol-Acetic Acid). The samples were processed under the technique of thinning and staining modified for non-lignified roots.

Results:

Eight hundred and fifty root fragments were analyzed, finding a mycorrhization percentage of 6.8 - 17.1 %; all the sampled plants presented evidence of AM associations. The low percentages found agree with those reported for the Lycopodiaceae family in other parts of the world.

Conclusion:

This work represents a first approach to the study of mycorrhizae in the Lycopodiaceae in Mexico.