Influence of drought and salt stress on the growth of young Populus nigra ‘Italica’ plants and associated mycorrhizal fungi and non-mycorrhizal fungal endophytes

Abstract

Populus nigra ‘Italica’ (Lombardy poplar) is a breeding cultivar of black poplar, widely used as a street tree or windbreak, often exposed to salinity and limited water availability. Populus roots can develop dual mycorrhizal associations with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and with non-mycorrhizal fungal endophytes (FE). The symbiotic fungi may alleviate the effects of adverse environmental conditions. We investigated the performance (growth and symbiotic associations) of one-year-old Populus nigra ‘Italica’ grown from woody cuttings in soil from natural poplar habitat and subjected to water scarcity and soil salinity (50 mM NaCl, 150 mM NaCl, 250 mM NaCl). With increasing soil salinity, a decrease in the growth parameters of the aboveground parts of the poplar plantlets and their fine roots were found; however, the roots were more resistant to the stress factors analyzed than the shoots. ECMF, AMF, and non-mycorrhizal FE were all tolerant to increased salt levels in the soil, and the ECM abundance was significantly higher under conditions of mild salinity (50 mM NaCl, 150 mM NaCl) compared to the control plants and those treated with 250 mM NaCl. Our results indicated that enhanced soil salinity increased the content of sodium and chlorine in leaves, but did not affect significantly the concentrations potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, or nitrogen. Significant accumulation of proline in leaves suggest salt stress of P. nigra ‘Italica’ treated with 250 mM NaCl and contribution of proline to the plant defense reactions.