The present study aimed to witness the plant–microbe interaction associated with salt tolerance in crops. We isolated the endophytic microbe from the root zone of halophytic grass. Later, the salt tolerance of the endophyte was tested in the saline medium and was identified using nucleotide sequencing (GenBank under the accession numbers: SUB9030920AH1_AHK_ITS1MW570850: SUB9030920AH1_AHK_ITS4MW570851). Rice and maize seeds were coated with identified endophyte Aspergillus terreus and were sown in separate plastic pots. Later 21-day-old seedlings were subjected to three NaCl concentrations, including 50, 100, and 150 mM salt stress. Under saline conditions, A. terreus showed a substantial increase in growth, biomass, relative water content, oxidative balance, and photochemical efficiency of rice and maize plants. The data reflected that the stimulation of gibberellic acid (GA) in treated leaves may be the main reason for the upregulation of photosynthesis and the antioxidant defense cascade. The data also depict the downregulation of oxidative damage markers malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide in rice and maize plants. Conclusively, salt-tolerant endophytic fungus A. terreus explicitly displayed the positive plant–microbe interaction by developing salt tolerance in rice and maize plants. Salt tolerance by endophytic fungus coincides with the enhanced GA concentration, which illustrated the stimulated physiological mechanism and gene in response to the extreme environmental crisis, resulting in improved crop productivity.

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A b s t r a c tRoot rot fungi cause severe losses of crop plants, so the present work was carried out to determine the effect of Aerva javanica parts powder on root infecting fungi of mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.). A. javanica parts (stem, leaves and flower) were used as soil amendments at 0.1, 1 and 5% to check the effectiveness on growth parameters. All the plant parts showed a significant reduction in root rot fungi like Fusarium spp., Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, and Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. It was noted that germination percentage, fresh weight, leaf area and number of nodules were significantly higher and the inhibitory effect on root rot fungi increased when the soil was amended with A. javanica leaves at 1%. Thus, among all the treatments, A. javanica leaves at 1% were found to be the most effective against root rot fungi.

An experiment was conducted at Department of Botany, University of Karachi to explore the efficacy of homeopathic drug pellets for the control of root knot nematode and improved plant growth of crops. Homeopathic drug pellets of Santonine-43 and Kent-20 used at 75% concentration, respectively, showed excellent results in the control of M. javanica infection but also improved the plant height, weight and yield of all tested crops such as mung bean, mash bean, okra and sunflower followed by 50% concentration in contrast to control. However, 75% concentration of Kent-20 pellets were found best in reducing the galls formation produced by root knot nematodes, while Santonine-43 pellets were best in the improvement of growth of tested crop plants.