The Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Rhizophagus Clarus Improve Physiological Tolerance to Drought Stress in Soybean Plants

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is an economically important crop worldwide. However, increasingly long periods of drought have reduced the productivity of this crop. Studies have shown that inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) provides a potential alternative strategy for mitigating drought. In the present study, we measured the physiological and morphological performance of two soybean cultivars under drought in symbiosis with Rhizophagus clarus. Soybean plants Anta82 and Desafio, were grown in pots previously inoculated with R. clarus. Water deficit (WD) was imposed at the V3 development stage and maintained for 7 days. A control group was performed in parallel with well-irrigated plants in the absence of R. clarus in a greenhouse. Three and seven days after the WD imposition the analysis were performed. Cultivar Anta82 showed a higher percentage of colonization, N and K leaf content, whereas Desafio, showed higher water potential, water-use efficiency under WD, and thermal dissipation that allowed higher values for Fv/Fm, A, and PH under WD+AMF. The Principal Components Analysis results were able to demonstrate that both cultivars in water deficit with AMF colonization clustered together with well-watered plants. These findings suggest that AMF had an effect on plants in order to reduce drought physiological impairment.

Use of the Biostimulant Based on the Mycorrhizae Consortium of the <i>Glomeraceae</i> Family in the Field to Improve the Production and Nutritional Status of Maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) Plants in Central Benin

“…[4] also proved that the application of AMF spores improved the growth of wheat plants and increased the number of leaves and dry biomass. On the other hand, [20] explained that a mycorrhized plant has a greater capac-ity to absorb water, phosphorus and nitrogen present in the soil. They added that the uptake of phosphorus by plants is done up to 80% by mycorrhizal fungi and thus it increases the survival of plants by about 75%.…”