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In this study we tested whether communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonizing the roots of maize (Zea mays L.) were affected by soil tillage practices (plowing, chiseling, and no‐till) in a long‐term field experiment carried out in Tänikon (Switzerland). AMF were identified in the roots using specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers that had been developed for the AMF previously isolated from the soils of the studied site. A nested PCR procedure with primers of increased specificity (eukaryotic, then fungal, then AMF species or species‐group specific) was used. Sequencing of amplified DNA confirmed that the DNA obtained from the maize roots was of AMF origin. Presence of particular AMF species or species‐group was scored as a presence of a DNA product after PCR with specific primers. We also used single‐strand conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP) of amplified DNA samples to …