Abstract: A pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of inoculating arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on the growth, nutrient uptake, and officinal components of Artemisia annua. Inoculation with AM fungi Glomus mosseae and G. versiforme improved the uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium by A. annua, and increased the leaf chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate as well as the stem diameter and aboveground biomass of A. annua, with greater effects of inoculating G. mosseae than G. versiforme. After the colonization of G. mosseae and G.versiforme, the artemisinin content in A. annua stem, branch, and leaf was increased by 32.8%, 15.2%, and 19.6%, and 26.5%, 10.1%, and 14.9%, and the volatile oil content in leaf was increased by 45.0% and 25.0%, respectively, compared with the control. Furthermore, mycorrhizal colonization led to changes in volatile components.

Key words: arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, Artemisia annua, secondary metabolism, artemisinin, volatile oil