The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculations and cotyledon removal on early seedling growth of Pongamia pinnata

Abstract

Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre, a fast-growing oil-seed-producing tree legume, has the ability to grow on wastelands. It can be utilized for biofuel plantation on such lands. The preconditioning of young seedlings during the early stage of development with efficient arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) confers several benefits enhancing the possibility of their establishment in fields after outplanting from nurseries. However, before recommending these fungi for inoculation, the suitable AMF species must be identified. Therefore, to determine the potential AMF species, 9 purified fungi (isolated from different sites) were tested for their growth promotion activity. The inoculated fungi were not able to increase seedling growth. Some fungi reduced growth, which was attributed to more utilization of carbon by fungal symbiont. Development of fine roots was delayed up to 30 days after sowing and hence their colonization by AMF inoculants. This could be due to the large amount of nutrients stored in cotyledons of large P. pinnata seeds. Removal of cotyledons significantly reduced seedling growth and plants showed some extent of dependency on AMF inoculants. Thus, it was concluded that AMF inoculations should enhance biomass of P. pinnata only after depletion of metabolic reserves in its cotyledons and such mycorrhizal seedlings can be utilized for biofuel plantation.

Effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi (AMF) on Early Seedling Growth of Some Multipurpose Tree Species

“…Manjunath et al, 1989;Awotoye et al, 1992;Osundina 1995;Guissou et al, 1998;Schneider et al, 2013;Verma et al, 2015). (Shukla et al, 2010;Jha et al, 2014Jha et al, , 2015. This could explain the reason that why tested AMF species did not work synergistically with each other.…”

“…Mycorrhizal symbiosis can be found in nearly all types of ecological situations and most plant species are able to form this symbiosis naturally (Jaizme-Vega et al, 2006;. These associations occur naturally in the fields, favoring plant development by increasing nutrient uptake, growth rates and hormonal activities (Shukla et al, 2010;Hashmi et al, 2010;Jha et al, 2012Jha et al, , 2014Jha et al, , 2015. The positive effects of mycorrhizae on seedlings survival and growth under nursery conditions are well documented (Smith et al, 2009;Guissou et al, 2016).…”

Effect of Mycorrhizal Fungi on the Growth of Ailanthus excelsa Seedlings Grown in Different Potting Media under Nursery Condition

“…Singh and Chugh, (2019) found that seedlings of plants i.e., P.cineraira, D. sissoo, E. tereticornis, A. indica and A. excelsa grown in pots inoculated with mycorrhizae fungi performed significantly better that uninoculated soils. Jha et al, (2014) in Pongamia pinnata. Shukla et al, (2013) in Dalbergia sissoo.…”

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and potassium fertilizer as plant biostimulants and alternative research for enhancing plants adaptation to drought stress: Opportunities for enhancing drought tolerance in cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.)

“…This creates a good opportunity to explore the use of AMF in enhancing cocoa seedling establishment in West Africa. The plethora of research that suggest that preconditioning of young seedlings with efficient arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) makes plants stronger and helps in their establishment in fields (Cekic et al, 2012;Jha et al, 2014;Navarro Garcia et al, 2011;Shi et al, 2012) reiterate our hypothesis that the concept could be applied to tree crops like cocoa seedlings in the wake of drought stress caused by climate change. This innovation could result in superior and stronger growth of cocoa seedling and improve their establishment on farmers' fields, with the potential to reflect in higher cocoa yield and improved living conditions of the majority of people that depend on the cocoa sector.…”