Abstract
Mycorrhizal plants often have greater tolerance to drought than nonmycorrhizal plants. This study was conducted to determine the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi inoculation on growth, grain yield and mineral acquisition of two winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars grown in the field under well-watered and water-stressed conditions. Wheat seeds were planted in furrows after treatment with or without the AM fungi Glomus mosseae or G. etunicatum. Roots were sampled at four growth stages (leaf, tillering, heading and grain-filling) to quantify AM fungi. There was negligible AM fungi colonization during winter months following seeding (leaf sampling in February), when soil temperature was low. During the spring, AM fungi colonization increased gradually. Mycorrhizal colonization was higher in well-watered plants colonized with AM fungi isolates than water-stressed plants. Plants inoculated with G. etunicatum generally had higher colonization than plants colonized with G. mosseae under both soil moisture conditions. Biomass and grain yields were higher in mycorrhizal than nonmycorrhizal plots irrespective of soil moisture, and G. etunicatum inoculated plants generally had higher biomass and grain yields than those colonized by G. mosseae under either soil moisture condition. The mycorrhizal plants had higher shoot P and Fe concentrations than nonmycorrhizal plants at all samplings regardless of soil moisture conditions. The improved growth, yield and nutrient uptake in wheat plants reported here demonstrate the potential of mycorrhizal inoculation to reduce the effects of drought stress on wheat grown under field conditions in semiarid areas of the world.
Similar content being viewed by others
References:
Abbott LK, Robson AD (1982) The role of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in agriculture and the selection of fungi for inoculation. Aust J Agric Res 33:389–408
Al-Karaki GN (1998) Benefit, cost and water-use efficiency of arbuscular mycorrhizal durum wheat grown under drought stress. Mycorrhiza 8:41–45
Al-Karaki GN, Al-Raddad A (1997) Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and drought stress on growth and nutrient uptake of two wheat genotypes differing in drought resistance. Mycorrhiza 7:83–88
Al-Karaki GN, Clark RB (1998) Growth, mineral acquisition, and water use by mycorrhizal wheat grown under water stress. J Plant Nutr 21:263–276
Al-Karaki GN, Al-Raddad A, Clark RB (1998) Water stress and mycorrhizal isolate effects on growth and nutrient acquisition of wheat. J Plant Nutr 21:891–902
Allen MF, Boosalis MG (1983) Effects of two VA mycorrhizal fungi on drought tolerance of winter wheat. New Phytol 93:67–76
Auge RM, Schekel KA, Wample RL (1987a) Rose leaf elasticity changes in response to mycorrhizal colonization and drought acclimation. Physiol Plant 70:175–182
Auge RM, Schekel KA, Wample RL (1987b) Leaf water and carbohydrate status of VA mycorrhizal rose exposed to drought stress. Plant Soil 99:291–302
Buwalda JG, Stribley DP, Tinker PB (1985) VA mycorrhiza of winter and spring cereals. J Agric Sci 105:649–657
Cade-Menun BJ, Berch SM, Bomke AA (1991) Seasonal colonization of winter wheat in South Coastal British Columbia by VAM fungi. Can J Bot 69:78–86
Daniels BA, Trappe JM (1980) Factors affecting spore germination of the VAM fungus Glomus epigeus. Mycologia 72:407–471
Davies FT Jr, Potter JR, Linderman RG (1992) Mycorrhiza and repeated drought exposure affect drought resistance and extraradical hyphae development on pepper plants independent of plant size and nutrient content. J Plant Physiol 139:289–294
Ellis JR, Larsen HJ, Boosalis MG (1985) Drought resistance of wheat plants inoculated with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae. Plant Soil 86:369–378
Faber BA, Zasoski RJ, Burau RG, Uriu K (1990) Zinc uptake by corn as affected by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae. Plant Soil 129:121–130
Giovannetti M, Mosse B (1980) An evaluation of techniques for measuring vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal infection in roots. New Phytol 84:489–500
Hetrick BA, Bockus WW, Bloom J (1984) The role of VAM fungi in the growth of Kansas winter wheat. Can J Bot 62:735–740
Koske RE (1981) Gigaspora gigantea: observations on spore germination of a VA mycorrhizal fungus. Mycologia 73:288–300
Michelsen A, Rosendahl S (1990) The effect of VA mycorrhizal fungi, phosphorus and drought stress on growth of Acacia nilotica and Leucaena leucocephala seedlings. Plant Soil 124:7–13
Mohammad MJ, Pan WL, Kennedy AC (1998) Seasonal mycorrhizal colonization of winter wheat and its effect on wheat growth under dryland field conditions. Mycorrhiza 8:139–144
O'Keefe DM, Sylvia DM (1993) Chronology and mechanisms of mycorrhizal mediated P uptake in sweet potato plants. New Phytol 122:651–659
Phillips J, Hayman D (1970) Improved procedures for clearing roots and staining parasitic and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for rapid assessment of infection. Trans Br Mycol Soc 55:158–161
Ruiz-Lozano JM, Azcon R, Gomez M (1995) Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal Glomus species on drought tolerance: physiological and nutritional plant responses. Appl Environ Microbiol 61:456–460
Ryan MH, Ash JE (1996) Colonization of wheat in southern New South Wales by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is significantly reduced by drought. Aust J Exp Agric 36:563–569
Sylvia DM, Hammond LC, Bennett JM, Haas JH, Linda SB (1993) Field response of maize to a VAM fungus and water management. Agron J 85:193–198
Yocum DM, Larsen HJ, Boosalis MG (1985) The effects of tillage treatments and a fallow season on VA mycorrhizae of winter wheat. In: Molina R (ed) Proceedings of the Sixth North American Conference on Mycorrhizae. 25–29 June 1984. Forest Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Ore, USA, p 297
Aknowledgements
This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Texas Tech University. The senior author would like to thank the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (Kuwait) for supporting him with a Fellowship during this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Al-Karaki, G., McMichael, B. & Zak, J. Field response of wheat to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and drought stress. Mycorrhiza 14, 263–269 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-003-0265-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-003-0265-2