Micromycetes in the rhizosphere, the rhizoplane and the roots of wheat under conventional and zero tillage

The effects of different soil cultivation on the occurrence of micromycetes in the rhizosphere, at the root surface (rhizoplane) and in the root interior were investigated in a long-term field experiment on a chernozem soil at Hru?ovany u Brna, in an area of the corn production type. Cereals were grown as a monoculture with conventional and zero tillage.Soil cultivation had no significant effect on the total number of species of micromycetes. Zero tillage resulted in an increased number of colonies isolated from the rhizosphere and the rhizoplane. On the contrary, conventional tillage resulted in an increased number of isolates from the roots interior. The abundance of individual species of micromycetes varied somewhat in individual years, larger differences being observed with the saprophytic rather than with the parasitic (Gaeumannomyces graminis, Fusarium) species. In wheat roots, Gaeumannomyces graminis was more common under conventional tillage that under zero tillage, while the reverse was true of Fusarium.