Trichoderma spp., a known beneficial fungus is reported to have several mechanisms to enhance plant growth. In this study, the effectiveness of seven isolates of Trichoderma spp. to promote growth and increase physiological performance in rice was evaluated experimentally using completely randomized design under greenhouse condition. This study indicated that all the Trichoderma spp. isolates tested were able to increase several rice physiological processes which include net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration, internal CO2 concentration and water use efficiency. These Trichoderma spp. isolates were also able to enhance rice growth components including plant height, leaf number, tiller number, root length and root fresh weight. Among the Trichoderma spp. isolates, Trichoderma sp. SL2 inoculated rice plants exhibited greater net photosynthetic rate (8.66 μmolCO2 m−2 s−1), internal CO2 concentration (336.97 ppm), water use efficiency (1.15 μmoCO2/mmoH2O), plant height (70.47 cm), tiller number (12), root length (22.5 cm) and root fresh weight (15.21 g) compared to the plants treated with other Trichoderma isolates tested. We conclude that beneficial fungi can be used as a potential growth promoting agent in rice cultivation.

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A method for hairy root induction of Persicaria minor, was developed and investigated, and a qualitative evaluation of the sesquiterpenes in the culture medium was performed. The transgenic status was confirmed by PCR analysis using rolB and virD specific primers. The efficiency with which four different strains of Agrobacterium rhizogenes (A4, ATCC43056, ATCC15834 and ATCC13333) and different concentrations of acetosyringone induced hairy roots from in vitro leaf segments of P. minor was evaluated. Strains A4 and ATCC13333 were able to induce hairy root in an average of 6 days of cocultivation and exhibited significantly higher transformation efficiencies, 20 and 21.3 %, respectively, compared to the other strains in the presence of 100 lM acetosyringone. Half-strength Murashige-Skoog basal medium supplemented with Gamborg vitamins supported the greatest increase (35-fold) of growth index of hairy roots relative to the initial weight after 8 weeks of culture. GC-MS results showed that b-caryophyllene was the main sesquiterpenes detected and was quantified with standards, with total peak areas of 7.934. Results suggested that hairy roots secreted sesquiterpenes into the medium while preserving viable hairy roots as a source of specialized metabolites.

BackgroundTrichoderma sp. SL2 has been previously reported to enhance rice germination, vigour, growth and physiological characteristics. The use of Potato Dextrose Agar as carrier of Trichoderma sp. SL2 inoculant is not practical for field application due to its short shelf life and high cost. This study focuses on the use of corn and sugarcane bagasse as potential carriers for Trichoderma sp. SL2 inoculants.FindingsA completely randomized design was applied for this study. Trichoderma sp. SL2 suspension mixed with corn and sugarcane bagasse were used as treatment mixture in soil. Growth parameters including rice seedling height, root length, wet weight, leaf number and biomass were measured and compared to control. The results showed that Trichoderma sp. SL2 mixed with corn significantly enhanced rice seedlings root length, wet weight and biomass compared to Trichoderma sp. SL2 mixed with sugarcane bagasse and control.ConclusionCorn can be a potential carrier for Trichoderma spp. inoculants for field application.

BackgroundCapsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens, also known as “chilies”, belong to the Solanaceae family and have tremendous beneficial properties. The application of hairy root culture may become an alternative method for future development of these species by adding value, such as by increasing secondary metabolites and improving genetic and biochemical stability compared with normal Capsicum plants. Therefore, in this research, different types of explants of both species were infected with various Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains to provide more information about the morphology and induction efficiency of hairy roots. After 2 weeks of in vitro seed germination, young seedling explants were cut into three segments; the cotyledon, hypocotyl, and radical. Then, the explants were co-cultured with four isolated A. rhizogenes strains in Murashige & Skoog culture media (MS) containing decreasing carbenicillin disodium concentrations for one month.ResultsIn this experiment, thick and short hairy roots were induced at all induction sites of C. annuum while thin, elongated hairy roots appeared mostly at wound sites of C. frutescens. Overall, the hairy root induction percentages of C. frutescens were higher compared with C. annuum. Hairy root initiation was observed earliest using radicles (1st week), followed by cotyledons (2nd week), and hypocotyls (3rd week). Cotyledon explants of both species had the highest induction frequency with all strains compared with the other explants types. Strains ATCC 13333 and ATCC 15834 were the most favourable for C. frutescens while ATCC 43056 and ATCC 43057 were the most favourable for C. annuum. The interactions between the different explants and strains showed significant differences with p-values < 0.0001 in both Capsicum species.ConclusionsBoth Capsicum species were amenable to A. rhizogenes infection and hairy root induction is recommended for use as an alternative explants in future plant-based studies.

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