Abstract
Under abiotic stress conditions, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi help plants by improving nutrient and water uptake. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) is an arid crop having soils with poor water holding capacity. Therefore, it is difficult for the plants to obtain water and mineral nutrients from such soil to sustain life. To understand the role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in water and mineral up-take from the soil, we studied the role of Rhizophagus intraradices colonization and its beneficial role for drought stress tolerance in finger millet seedlings. Under severe drought stress condition, AM inoculation led to the significant increase in plant growth (7 %), phosphorus and chlorophyll content (29 %). Also, under drought stress the level of osmolytes such as proline and soluble sugars were found to be increased in AM inoculated seedlings. Under water stress, the lipid peroxidation in leaves of mycorrhized seedlings was reduced by 29 %. The flavonoid content of roots in AM colonized seedlings was found 16 % higher compared to the control, whereas the leaves were accumulated more phenol. Compared to the control, ascorbate level was found to be 25 % higher in leaf tissue of AM inoculated seedlings. Moreover, glutathione (GSH) level was also increased in mycorrhiza inoculated seedlings with a maximum increment of 182 % under severe stress. The results demonstrated that AM provided drought tolerance to the finger millet seedlings through a stronger root system, greater photosynthetic efficiency, a more efficient antioxidant system and improved osmoregulation.
Highlights
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) is grown worldwide in more than 4 m ha, and is the staple food for millions of people in less developed countries of Africa and Asia [1]
Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) inoculation on morphological parameters and phosphorous uptake To evaluate the response of finger millet seedlings to drought, the seedlings were subjected to well-watered (100 % field capacity (FC)), mild stress (60 % FC) and severe stress (40 % FC) condition for 10 days
The results indicated that mycorrhiza inoculum has improved the biomass, especially the root biomass under water stress
Summary
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) is grown worldwide in more than 4 m ha, and is the staple food for millions of people in less developed countries of Africa and Asia [1] It is rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron and amino acids like cysteine, tyrosine, tryptophan and methionine [2], which are crucial for human health. The homeostasis between production and detoxification of ROS in plants affect the development and growth under water stress [5] These irregularities cause several cellular damages such as oxidative damage of proteins, nucleic acids and lipids [6, 7]. These are efficient chain-breaking antioxidants that can inhibit lipid peroxidation and reduce oxidative damage during water stress and helps in scavenging of ROS [9]
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