Diacetylphloroglucinol-producing pseudomonads do not influence AM fungi in wheat rhizosphere

Natural agroecosystems are directly dependent on bene-ficial microorganisms present in bulk soil and rhizo-sphere for soil health and plant productivity. With the current thrust on use of microbial inoculants, espe-cially the biological control agents, it is necessary to assess their negative influence on such beneficial forms as AM fungi since they help the plant withstand various stresses. Among other molecules, pseudomonads pre-sent in the rhizosphere secrete the antifungal, 2,4-dia-cetylphloroglucinol (DAPG) and are currently in great demand as bioinoculants. Based on the cultural, bio-chemical, and molecular tools we show that DAPG producing pseudomonads recovered from wheat rhizo-sphere do not adversely affect AM colonization. Eva-luation of such effects on non-target organisms will help early acceptance of microbial inoculants in future.