Effects of arbuscular mycorrhiza inoculation on plant growth, biological and physiological parameters and mineral nutrition in pepper grown under different salinity and p levels

Abstract

A study was conducted in a greenhouse, to investigate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus intraradices), soil salinity and P availability on growth (leaf area and dry weight), nutrient absorption and ion leakage, chlorophyll, soluble sugar and proline content and alkaline phosphatase activity of pepper plants (Capsicum annuum L.). Plants were grown at four levels of salinity (0, 50, 100 and 200 mM NaCl) and two P levels (10 and 40 mg kg -1). Colonisation was 80% to 51% in non-stressed and high salt-stressed plants, respectively. The mycorrhizal dependency was high and only reduced at the higher salinity level. Mycorrhizal plants maintained greater root and shoot biomass at all salinity levels compared to non-mycorrhizal plants, regardless the P level. Interactions between salinity, phosphorous and mycorrhizae were significant for leaf area, root and shoot dry mass. Non-mycorrhizal plants accumulated higher Na and lower K and P compared to mycorrhizal plants. The cell membrane integrity was greater in mycorrhizal plants than in non-mycorrhizal ones. The proline content increases with increasing salt stress and was significantly higher in leaves than in roots The results indicate that the mycorrhizal inoculation is capable of alleviating the damage caused by salt stress conditions on pepper plants, to maintaining the membranes stability and plant growth, and this could be related to P nutrition.

Effects of Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculation on Green Pepper Yield and Mineral Uptake under Irrigation with Saline Water

“…The AM fungi root colonization in green pepper was reduced by salinity stress regardless of AM fungi inoculation status (Table 2). These findings are in agreement with other researchers working on different vegetable crops, who reported that salinity not only affects the host plant growth but also the AM fungi colonization [2,[6][7][8]. Salinity can reduce AM colonization capacity, spore germination and inhibiting growth of hyphae of the fungus [12,22,23].…”

“…Many studies have indicated that AM fungi contribute to plant growth via enhancement of mineral nutrient uptake particularly that of P and N and hence improve salt tolerance in different vegetable crops grown under saline conditions [2,12,[25][26][27][28][29]. Mycorrhizal inoculation has been also reported to reduce the negative effects of Na by maintaining vacuolar membrane integrity, which prevents this ion from interfering in growth metabolic pathways [31].…”

“…Due to low precipitation in arid and semiarid regions, in addition to overexploitation of available water resources (e.g., ground water), low quality water (e.g., saline water) has been utilize for irrigation crops grown in plastic houses as well as those planted in open fields. High salinity of the irrigation water has detrimental effects on soil fertility and reduces crop growth and yield [1][2][3]. One of the strategies that have been used to counteract salinity stress involves growing crops that are tolerant to saline conditions [4,5].…”

Colonization of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) plantlets by ericoid mycorrhizae under nursery conditions

“…Beltrano et al (2013) reported the positive effect of inoculation using arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (Glomus intraradices) on the growth and functioning of physiological parameters and the absorption of mineral nutrition in bell-pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants under different salinity and phosphorus levels, which alleviated the damage caused by salt stress. Moreover, a study by Borie and Rubio (1999) reported an increased tolerance to the presence of phytotoxic aluminum, as well as improved absorption of nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus in barley plants (Hordeum vulgare L.) grown in acidic volcanic soils (Borie and Rubio, 1999).…”

Exogenous Gibberellic Acid Ameliorates Salinity-Induced Morphological and Biochemical Alterations in Portulaca grandiflora

“…Over the past few years, many methods have been tested to overcome adverse effects of salinity stress on plants, namely mycorrhiza inoculation (Beltrano et al, 2013) hydrogen sulfide priming (Christou et al, 2013), ABA application (Osakabe et al, 2014) and salicylic acid treatment (LI et al, 2014). Previously, Ashraf et al (2002) reported the combining effects of gibberellic acid and salt stress on the photosynthetic capacity of wheat plants.…”