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Piriformospora indica-mediated salinity tolerance in Aloe vera plantlets

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Abstract

Piriformospora indica, a root endophytic fungus, has been reported to promote growth of many plants under normal condition and allow the plants to survive under stress conditions. However, its impact on an important medicinal plant Aloe vera L. has not been well studied. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the effect of P. indica on salinity stress tolerance of A. vera plant. P. indica inoculated and non-inoculated A. vera plantlets were subjected to four levels of salinity treatment- 0, 100, 200 and 300 mM NaCl. The salinity stress decreased the ability of the fungus to colonize roots of A. vera but the interaction of A. vera with P. indica resulted in an overall increase in plant biomass and greater shoot and root length as well as number of shoots and roots. The photosynthetic pigment (Chl a, Chl b and total Chl) and gel content were significantly higher for the fungus inoculated A. vera plantlets, at respective salinity concentrations. Furthermore, the inoculated plantlets had higher phenol, flavonoid, flavonol, aloin contents and radical scavenging activity at all salinity concentrations. The higher phenolic and flavonoid content may help the plants ameliorate oxidative stress resulting from high salinity.

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Abbreviations

HPLC:

High Performance Liquid Chromatography

DPPH:

1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl

NaCl:

Sodium Chloride

BSA:

Bovine serum albumin

TFA:

Trifluoroacetic acid

MQ:

Milli Q

UV:

Ultraviolet

MS:

Murashige and Skoog

MAT:

Months after treatment

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Acknowledgments

Authors are thankful to Dr. Ashok K Chauhan, Founder President, Ritanand Balved Educational Foundation for support. They are also thankful to Shri. Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh and Prof. Dr. (Mrs.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh for their constant support and guidance. PS acknowledge Ministry of Environment and Forest and University Grant Commision, Government of India for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Block E-3, 4th Floor, Sector 125, Noida, 201303, India

    Priyanka Sharma, Amit C. Kharkwal & Ajit Varma

  2. Jamia Hamdard University, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi, 110062, India

    M. Z. Abdin

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  1. Priyanka Sharma
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  2. Amit C. Kharkwal
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  3. M. Z. Abdin
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  4. Ajit Varma
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Correspondence to Amit C. Kharkwal.

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Sharma, P., Kharkwal, A.C., Abdin, M.Z. et al. Piriformospora indica-mediated salinity tolerance in Aloe vera plantlets. Symbiosis 72, 103–115 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-016-0449-0

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