What does the published scientific research say about Glomus iranicum?

Glomus iranicum — also classified as Rhizophagus iranicus and Dominikia iranica, with the variety tenuihypharum frequently appearing in research contexts — is an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) with two PubMed-indexed studies examining its behavior in agricultural plant systems.

Peer-reviewed research on Glomus iranicum var. tenuihypharum and salt stress tolerance found that inoculated greenhouse lettuce grown with saline reclaimed water (4.19 dS/m electrical conductivity) showed improved N, Ca, and K acquisition alongside reduced Na uptake relative to non-inoculated controls. The literature also reports better net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and water-use efficiency in mycorrhized plants, with inoculated lettuce meeting minimum commercial size thresholds under wastewater irrigation conditions.

A second study on Rhizophagus iranicus persistence in canola rhizosphere — canola being a non-mycorrhizal host — detected the organism after 10 years of monoculture, which the authors describe as unexpected. The research further reports that R. iranicus shared its bacterial cohort almost entirely with Funneliformis mosseae in bulk soil, pointing toward non-species-specific AMF-bacteria relationships that the authors suggest warrant further study in soil microbiome ecology.