Abstract
The aims of the present work were to isolate and characterize fungal endophytic communities associated with healthy wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants, collected from the North China. Segregated endophytes were screened for their PGP traits, abiotic stresses (heavy metals, salinity, drought, and temperature), and antibiotic sensitivity. A total of 16 endophytic fungi were isolated using the culture-dependent approach from different tissue parts of wheat plants. Based upon their internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA gene sequencing, 15 out of 16 isolates were selected for further analysis. In the contemporary investigation, a number of the tested endophytes exhibited fairly good 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase (ACCD) (0.03±0.011 to 1.43±0.01 µmol α-KB mg−1 protein hr−1), indole acetic acid (IAA) (1.125±0.04 to36.12±0.004µgml−1), and phosphate solubilizing index (PSI) (2.08±0.03to5.16±0.36) activities. More than 30% isolates gave positive result for siderophore and ammonia tests, whereas all exhibited catalase activity but only 2 (582PDA1 and 582PDA11) produced hydrogen cyanide. Trichoderma strains showed salt, heavy metals, and drought tolerance at high levels and also exhibited resistance to all the tested antibiotics. Strain 582PDA4 was found to be the most temperature (55°C) tolerant isolate. The findings of this study indicated that the microbial endophytes isolated from wheat plants possessing a crucial function to improve plant growth could be utilized as biofertilizers or bioagents to establish a sustainable crop production system.
Highlights
IntroductionAccording to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, its demand will be amplified up to 746 million tons by 2020 [1]
Wheat is considered as one of the major cereal crops
According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, its demand will be amplified up to 746 million tons by 2020 [1]. This raise in production desires to be accomplished in spite of the budding challenges to modern agriculture as well as precincts in the application of pesticides [2], concerns about the accessibility and environmental impact of fertilizer inputs [3], and the potential harmful impacts of climate alteration on wheat yields and disease spectrum [4]
Summary
According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, its demand will be amplified up to 746 million tons by 2020 [1]. This raise in production desires to be accomplished in spite of the budding challenges to modern agriculture as well as precincts in the application of pesticides [2], concerns about the accessibility and environmental impact of fertilizer inputs [3], and the potential harmful impacts of climate alteration on wheat yields and disease spectrum [4]. The use of beneficial microbial symbionts of plants with the objective of improving agricultural productivity is one of the most important sustainable practices [6]. Plant-microbe symbiosis influences plant growth and health which efficiently ameliorates agricultural traits and improve soil quality and nutrient cycling [7,8,9]
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