Abstract
Leaf spot disease, caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana, and drought are important limiting factors in the production of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). The present study aims to test the effects of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Claroideoglomus etunicatum, on a combination of drought and pathogen stress under greenhouse conditions. Disease incidence, plant growth, phosphorus (P) uptake, and photosynthetic parameters as well as other physiological indexes were determined after two weeks of pathogen infection. Both pathogen infection and drought stress significantly decreased the photosynthetic parameters, P uptake, and plant growth (P < 0.05). Disease incidence was aggravated by drought stress, and plants suffered serious damage when infected with the pathogen in combination with drought stress. C. etunicatum inoculation reduced disease incidence by 20.8% (P < 0.05). Moreover, mycorrhizal plants had significantly (P < 0.05) more total dry weight, chlorophyll content, P uptake, photosynthetic parameters, and catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities and significantly (P < 0.05) less malonaldehyde (MDA) concentration than the control. This paper indicates the ability of the AM fungus C. etunicatum to improve P uptake and growth of perennial ryegrass and to alleviate the damage caused by biotic and abiotic stresses.
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