Influence of arbuscular mycorrhiza on organic solutes in maize leaves under salt stress

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted to examine the effect of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Glomus mosseae, on plant biomass and organic solute accumulation in maize leaves. Maize plants were grown in sand and soil mixture with three NaCl levels (0, 0.5, and 1.0 g kg(-1) dry substrate) for 55 days, after 15 days of establishment under non-saline conditions. At all salinity levels, mycorrhizal plants had higher biomass and higher accumulation of organic solutes in leaves, which were dominated by soluble sugars, reducing sugars, soluble protein, and organic acids in both mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants. The relative abundance of free amino acids and proline in total organic solutes was lower in mycorrhizal than in non-mycorrhizal plants, while that of reducing sugars was higher. In addition, the AM symbiosis raised the concentrations of soluble sugars, reducing sugars, soluble protein, total organic acids, oxalic acid, fumaric acid, acetic acid, malic acid, and citric acid and decreased the concentrations of total free amino acids, proline, formic acid, and succinic acid in maize leaves. In mycorrhizal plants, the dominant organic acid was oxalic acid, while in non-mycorrhizal plants, the dominant organic acid was succinic acid. All the results presented here indicate that the accumulation of organic solutes in leaves is a specific physiological response of maize plants to the AM symbiosis, which could mitigate the negative impact of soil salinity on plant productivity.

The Impact of the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Growth and Physiological Parameters of Cowpea Plants Grown under Salt Stress Conditions

“…These results are in agreement with Abdul Qados (2011). Also AMF colonization increased its content in AM than non-AM ones which is a good conformity with the results of Ibrahim et al (2011) which might be attributed to AM mediated activation of certain plant genes (Sheng et al, 2011) or due to the higher efficiency of the osmotic regulation mechanism in cowpea plants which in turn prevents protein reduction under salt stress (Kumar et al, 2010). This protein increment lead to membrane stabilization and helps plants to grow and develop under saline conditions (Abdel-Fattah and Asrar, 2012).…”

Salt stress in maize: effects, resistance mechanisms, and management. A review

“…Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi help plants to capture nutrients such as phosphorus, sulfur, nitrogen, and micronutrients from the soil. Root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can induce major changes in the relative abundance of major groups of organic solutes (Sheng et al 2011). Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonization of plant roots is reduced by salt stress, indicating that salinity suppresses the formation of arbuscular mycorrhiza (Sheng et al 2008).…”

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

“…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].…”