نبذة مختصرة : Arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) can improve phosphorus (P) nutrition and could serve as an environmentally friendly approach for sustainable crop production under P-limiting conditions. The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of AM on different physiological traits and to quantify the responsiveness of different basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivars to AM under low P availability. The basil cultivars &lsquo
Genovese&rsquo
&lsquo
Sweet Basil&rsquo
Dark Opal&rsquo
and &lsquo
Erevanskii&rsquo
were inoculated (AMI) using Rhizophagus irregularis. Photochemical efficiency and gas exchange were measured on AMI and non-inoculated (AMC) plants and, at harvest, the shoot biomass, shoot P concentration, root morphological traits, frequency of mycorrhizas in the roots (F%), and extent of root colonization (M%) were determined. Significant differences in F% and M% were found among the examined cultivars, with the highest found in &lsquo
Dark Opal&lsquo
and the lowest in &lsquo
Erevanskii&lsquo
AMI reduced the shoot biomass and increased the shoot P concentration as well as other examined root traits in &lsquo
whereas it did not affect those traits in &lsquo
indicating differences in responsiveness to AM. AMI positively affected the gas-exchange parameters in all examined cultivars, probably due to the increased sink capacity of a bigger root system and/or AM structures within the roots.
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