Abstract
Limited information is available regarding the selection of effective mycorrhizae and the exploitation of their beneficial effects on the enhancement of the forage production of Dactylis glomerata under the predicted warmer and drier conditions in the Mediterranean region. The objective of this study was to test the effects of Glomus intraradices, Glomus mosseae and their mix inoculation on growth characteristics and dry matter production of Dactylis glomerata in relation to full and limited irrigation. The experiment was conducted in Orestiada, Northeastern Greece. Limited irrigation significantly decreased yield and yield components of Dactylis glomerataover the full irrigation. Drought stressed plants had significantly higher root dry weight as a response for better survival under water deficit conditions. The Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculated plants had significant higher shoot dry weight, tiller height and number of leaves in comparison to the non-inoculated plants. On the contrary, under drought stress conditions all AMF plants had lower root dry weights than control plants. Among the studied mycorrhizae species, Glomus intraradices performed better than Glomus mosseae and their mixture as it increased S/R ratio, tiller height and number of leaves.
Highlights
Water availability is one of the most ominous abiotic factors limiting the productivity of forage crops in the Mediterranean region
In the warm and dry Mediterranean environments, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis could play an important role in alleviating the effects of drought on crop yield
This study provided evidence that Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have the potential to be beneficial on growth characteristics and dry matter production of Dactylis glomerata grown under different water availability conditions
Summary
Water availability is one of the most ominous abiotic factors limiting the productivity of forage crops in the Mediterranean region. In the warm and dry Mediterranean environments, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis could play an important role in alleviating the effects of drought on crop yield. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) symbiosis could significantly improve plant resistance to drought via increased dehydration-avoidance and increased tolerance (Ruiz-Lozano and Azcón, 2000). The AMF symbiosis could increase the drought tolerance via the increased soil water movement to the plant roots (Ruiz-Lozano, 2003), and the ability of the mycorrhizal plants to mediate the osmotic stress. These osmotic regulations are related to the sugar level adjustments in the plant shoots (Wu and Xia, 2006). The effects of AMF to the drought - plant relation extend to the soil environment by promoting soil aggregation and improving the overall soil water conditions to the rhizosphere (Rillig et al, 2002)
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