Water deficit stress alleviation by bio-formulated native mycorrhizal species for wheat grown in a saline calcareous soil
¹Department of Soil Fertility and Microbiology, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt
²Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
*Correspondence: zenabahmed5@gmail.com
Abstract:
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are a genus of obligatory root biotrophs that can develop mutualistic symbioses with most terrestrial plants. This study aimed to investigate the impact of three different isolates of AMF (Acaulospora spinosa [M1], Glomus ambisporum [M2], and Scutellospora heterogama [M3]) isolated from native environments and three carriers (biochar, alginate, and polyacrylate) on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in a saline calcareous soil in conditions of water deficit. In a pot experiment, reduced amounts of water were applied at intervals of 4, 8, and 12 days, while in a field experiment, the intervals were 1, 2, and 3 weeks (W1, W2, and W3). By analyzing the chlorophyll index and dry weight data from the pot experiment, it was revealed that two AMF isolates (M1 and M2), along with two carriers (biochar and alginate), showed promising results in stimulating wheat growth. Based on these findings, a field validation experiment was conducted to further evaluate the effects of these isolates and carriers. The wheat plants subjected to water deficit stress exhibited improved vegetation characteristics, grain yield, nutrient uptake, and colonization percentage when treated with the AMF isolate M2 formulated on biochar. For instance, under W2 conditions without any mycorrhiza or carrier, the grain yield was recorded at 6,600 kg ha-1. However, with the inoculation of M2-biochar at the same W2 level, the yield significantly increased to 9110 kg ha‑1. The study concluded that AMF formulated on biochar outperformed other carriers, leading to enhanced wheat growth under water stress conditions.
Key words:
alginate, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, biochar, biocompatible carriers, drought stress, wheat yield