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Endophytic Fungi Assures Tropical Forage Grass Growth by Water Stress Tolerances

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Abstract

Forage plants is the base of beef and dairy cattle production. While water stress limits agricultural production worldwide, endophytic fungi can play a beneficial role for plants, such as tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of inoculation of the endophytic fungi Paraconiothyrium estuarinum (CML 3695, CML 3696, CML 3699) and Paraconiothyrium cyclothyrioides (CML 3697, CML 3698) on agronomic characteristics of two forage species, Brachiaria brizantha (A. Rich) Stapf. cv. Marandu and Megathyrsus maximus Jacq. cv. BRS Mombaça, under different available water capacities. The treatments simulated a long drought period (LDH) equivalent to 10% of the available water capacity (AWC) and simulated 7 (7 DH) and 14 days of drought (14 DH) without water supply. The grasses were evaluated for length and dry weight of shoots and roots. All treatments reached humidity below the permanent wilting point (PWP) and the highest variation in soil moisture was observed at 14 DH, for both grass species. The endophytic fungi promoted an average 15% increase in shoot length (SL) for B. brizantha and an increase of 34% for SL, 266% for Dry Shoot Mass (SDM), and 340% for Dry Root Mass (RDM) for M. maximus treated with P. estuarinum (CML 3699) at 7 DH. Paraconiothyrium estuarinum (CML 3699) guaranteed the highest tolerance to water deficit and sustainable growth performance to both tested grasses.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG/CAG-APQ-02100-13) for financial support and scholarships.

Funding

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Nível Superior (CAPES).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciência do Solo, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, 37200-900, Brazil

    Raphael Passaglia Azevedo, Mariany Isabela Soares Domingues & Bruno Montoani Silva

  2. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, 37200-900, Brazil

    Natálie Martins Alves, Ingrid Araújo Costa, Natália de Aguiar Bandória & Patrícia Gomes Cardoso

  3. Barenbrug do Brasil Sementes Ltda, Guaíra, São Paulo, 14790-000, Brazil

    Ulisses José de Figueiredo

  4. Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, 37200-900, Brazil

    Flavio Henrique Vasconcelos de Medeiros

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  1. Raphael Passaglia Azevedo
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Contributions

Conceptualization: RPA, NAA, IAC, MISD, NAB, UJF, FHVM, BMS, and PGC. Data acquisition: IAC, MISD, and NAB. Data analysis: RPA, IAC, MISD, NAB, and BMS. Writing and editing: RPA, BMS, NAA, UJF, FHVM, and PGC.

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Correspondence to Bruno Montoani Silva.

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Azevedo, R.P., Alves, N.M., Costa, I.A. et al. Endophytic Fungi Assures Tropical Forage Grass Growth by Water Stress Tolerances. Curr Microbiol 78, 4060–4071 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-021-02672-w

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