Fungal endophytes alleviate salt stress in wheat in terms of growth, ion homeostasis and osmoregulation

Abstract

This study examined the ability of isolated endophytic fungi to confer salt stress tolerance on wheat. Tolerance of pot-grown wheat in greenhouse to salt stress was measured by estimating emergence rate, growth, relative water content, photosynthetic pigments biosynthesis, Na+ and K+ contents, as well as sugar and proline levels under salt stress in inoculated wheat seedlings. Chaetomium coarctatum (66·7%) and Alternaria chlamydospora (56·7%) improved wheat seedling emergence under moderate salinity (2·5dSm-1 ) compared to noninoculated plant (50%). However, under severe salinity (14dSm-1 ), wheat emergence was enhanced only by A. chlamydospora. Additionally, A. chlamydospora and Fusarium equiseti enhanced root growth under saline conditions. The tested endophytes exhibited high proline content relative to control. Chaetomium coarctatum showed the highest leaf sugar level under saline stress. Endophytic fungi bio-inoculation improved wheat salt stress tolerance. The capacity of endophytic fungi to increase wheat tolerance under salinity stress and to improve growth could be applicable to agriculture.