Abstract
Salinity stress is one of the main problems limiting growth and development of cultivated species. The objective of this study was to assess NaCl-stress basil plants (Ocimum basilicum L.) cv. ‘Nufar’ and to determine whether the mitigating effect of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus strain (AMF). A completely randomized factorial design was used considering three NaCl concentration (0, 50 and 100 mM) as factor 1 and presence or absence of AMF (0 and 10 g of inoculum) as factor 2, with four replicates per treatment and four plants per repetition. The assessed response variables were, fresh and dry of aerial part and root, root length, leaf area, relative water content, water potential, plant height, number of spores and mycorrhizal colonization percentage after 20 and 50 days (T20, T50) of the experiment. The results showed greater values in all variables in the control group (0 mM NaCl) than in plants inoculated with R. fasciculatum with T20 and T50; although values decreased as NaCl concentration increased; the tendency to increase was maintained even in at 50 and 100 mM of NaCl with AMF with respect to 50 and 100 mM NaCl without AMF. The AMF colonization percentage decreased as NaCl concentration increased. Nonetheless, the development and growth response for all variables in the inoculated plants with AMF was greater vs non-inoculated, which suggests that basil plant inoculation with AMF has a positive effect in mitigating NaCl stress.
 
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 In press - Online First. Article has been peer reviewed, accepted for publication and published online without pagination. It will receive pagination when the issue will be ready for publishing as a complete number (Volume 47, Issue 4, 2019). The article is searchable and citable by Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI link will become active after the article will be included in the complete issue.
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Highlights
Salinity is one of the main abiotic factors that worldwide negatively affect agriculture production (Iqbal et al, 2015)
The analysis of the interaction factors (NaCl×Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)) showed that fresh and dry biomass of the aerial part (FBAP and DBAP) and leaf area (LA) decreased as NaCl concentrations increased, showing highest values at 0 mM NaCl in plants inoculated with AMF and lowest in those subjected to 100 mM of NaCl without AMF; fresh and dry biomass and leaf area increased in 50 and 100 mM of NaCl with AMF compared to 50 and 100 without AMF (Table 1)
The factor interaction analysis showed that water potential (Ψw) values were less negative in plants subjected to 0 mM NaCl and inoculated with AMF and most negative values in those subjected to 100 mM NaCl without AMF
Summary
Salinity is one of the main abiotic factors that worldwide negatively affect agriculture production (Iqbal et al, 2015). The increase of salt concentration in soil is an abiotic factor that stresses plants and decreases their capacity to absorb water, limiting important metabolic processes, affecting osmotic equilibrium, nutrient absorption, hydraulic and stomatal conductivities, raw photosynthesis rate and intracellular CO2 concentration, which directly damages plant development (Batista-Sánchez et al, 2017). Salinity stress affects water absorption in plants in the radicle area because of a decrease of osmotic potential and plant soil hydration uptake (Batista-Sánchez et al, 2015). Studies have demonstrated that AMF are capable of promoting plant growth while providing increased tolerance to soil salinity in many plants species by a use of diverse mechanisms, such as favoring nutrient acquisition, plant growth hormone production, rhizosphere development as well as improving
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