Hossein Afshari

Tolerance of Mycorrhiza infected Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) seedling to drought stress under glasshouse conditions

The influence of Glomus etunicatum colonization on plant growth and drought tolerance of 3-month-old Pistacia vera seedlings in potted culture was studied in two different water treatments. The arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) inoculation and plant growth (including plant shoot and root weight, leaf area, and total chlorophyll) were higher for well-watered than for water-stressed plants. The growth of AM-treated seedlings was higher than non-AM-treatment regardless of water status. P, K, Zn and Cu contents in AM-treated shoots were greater than those in non-AM shoots under well-watered conditions and drought stress. N and Ca content were higher under drought stress, while AM symbiosis did not affect the Mg content. The contents of soluble sugars, proteins, flavonoid and proline were higher in mycorrhizal than non-mycorrhizal-treated plants under the whole water regime. AM colonization increased the activities of peroxidase enzyme in treatments, but did not affect the catalase activity in shoots and roots under well-watered conditions and drought stress. We conclude that AM colonization improved the drought tolerance of P. vera seedlings by increasing the accumulation of osmotic adjustment compounds, nutritional and antioxidant enzyme activity. It appears that AM formation enhanced the drought tolerance of pistachio plants, which increased host biomass and plant growth.

Effect of mycorrhiza symbiosis on the Nacl salinity in Sorghum bicolor

In order to determine mycorrhizal symbiosis on the Nacl salinity tolerance in Sorghum bicolor (aspydfyd cultivar), an experiment with two factors was done in Damghan Islamic Azad University laboratory (Iran) in 2007. The first factor with two levels (mycorihizal and non-mycorihizal) and second factor with six levels Nacl concentration of (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 Mmol) were examined in a random design with three replication in sand environment for 15 weeks. The measurements were the absorption of K, Na, P, N, plant growth, tolerance for different salinity concentrations and traits such as stem and root dry weight and the length of stem. The results showed that the dry weight and stem height in M plants were higher than NM plants. The increase in Nacl concentration decreased the stem height in both groups. However, there was no significant different in root dry weight. The measurement of elements in different organs showed that with increase in Nacl concentration, there would be a significant decrease in N, P, K absorption. But Na absorption increase is more in lower Nacl concentration. Generally, the amount of N, P, K in M plant organs is more than NM plant organs. The result of the experiment showed that mycorrhizal symbiosis is not only effective on element absorption, but also in plant growth and to some extent on salinity tolerance of the plant. So it will be suggested that mycorrhizal be used in salty soils with high Nacl for Sorghum bicolor . Key words: Sorghum, mycorrhizal, salinity, symbiosis, tolerance.