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ARTICLE

Claroideoglomus etunicatum improved the growth and saline– alkaline tolerance of Potentilla anserina by altering physiological and biochemical properties

YUNHUI ZHOU, YAJIE LIU, YUDAN WANG, CHUNXUE YANG^*

College of Landscape Architecture, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China

* Corresponding Author: Chunxue Yang,

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Mycorrhizal Fungal Roles in Stress Tolerance of Plants)

BIOCELL 2022, 46(8), 1967-1978. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.019304

Received 15 September 2021; Accepted 13 December 2021; Issue published 22 April 2022

Abstract

To investigate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on the growth and saline–alkaline tolerance of Potentilla anserina L., the seedlings were inoculated with Claroideoglomus etunicatum (W.N. Becker & Gerd.) C. Walker & A. Schüßler in pot cultivation. After 90 days of culture, saline–alkaline stress was induced with NaCl and NaHCO₃ solution according to the main salt components in saline–alkaline soils. Based on the physiological response of P. anserina to the stress in the preliminary experiment, the solution concentrations of 0 mmol/L, 75 mmol/L, 150 mmol/L, 225 mmol/L and 300 mmol/L were treated with stress for 10 days, respectively. The mycorrhizal colonization rate, mycorrhizal dependence, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde content, antioxidant enzyme activities, osmoregulation substances content and water status were measured. The results showed that with the increase of NaCl and NaHCO₃ stress concentration, mycorrhizal colonization rate, colonization intensity, arbuscular abundance and vesicle abundance decreased, and reached the lowest value at 300 mmol/L. Strong mycorrhizal dependence was observed after the symbiosis with AM fungus, and the dependence was higher under NaHCO₃ treatment. Under NaCl and NaHCO₃ stress, inoculation with AM fungus could increase chlorophyll content, decrease malondialdehyde content, increase activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase, increase contents of proline, soluble sugar and soluble protein, increase tissue relative water content and decrease water saturation deficit. It was concluded that salt–alkali stress inhibited the colonization of AM fungus, but the mycorrhiza still played a positive role in maintaining the normal growth of plants under salt–alkali stress.

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