Abstract
Alfalfa is the most forage crop cultivated in Mediteranean area where salinity is one of the main limiting factors for its production. Thus, a consortium of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM) isolated from the Aoufous palmeraie, Morocco, and autochthonous rhizobia strain (RhLO1) or their combination (AM + RhLO1) were tested for their efficiency to improve alfalfa tolerance to salinity. The grass waste compost was given as a source of organic matter to the soil. Antioxidant status, physiological parameters and growth of alfalfa were evaluated. The results showed that the highest alfalfa growth was reached in plants dually inoculated particularly under non-stress conditions. Dual inoculation also enhanced the stomatal conductance in control plants, while the nodule number and mycorrhizal infection were enhanced under both conditions. Salt stress did not affect the efficiency of photosystem II. However, single or dual inoculation increased this efficiency. RhLO1 or AM + RhLO1 symbiosis could alleviate the deleterious effects of salinity on alfalfa. They could maintain higher leaf water potential (LWP Ψ), reducing the electrolyte leakages and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, inducing the accumulation of compatible osmolytes (sugar) and antioxidant enzymes as defense strategy. Thus, these autochthonous microorganisms were effective for alfalfa plants to alleviate salinity damage and improve plant growth and productivity.
Zusammenfassung
Alfalfa ist die meistverwendete Futterpflanze im Mittelmeerraum, wo der Salzgehalt einer der wichtigsten limitierenden Faktoren für seine Produktion ist. In dieser Studie wurden arbuskuläre Mykorrhizapilze (AM), die aus dem Stamm Aoufous palmeraie, Marokko, isoliert wurden, und autochthone Rhizobien (RhLO1) oder deren Kombination (AM + RhLO1) auf ihre Effizienz getestet, die Salztoleranz von Alfalfa zu verbessern. Der Grasabfallkompost wurde als Quelle für organische Stoffe in den Boden eingebracht. Der antioxidative Status, die physiologischen Parameter und das Wachstum von Alfalfa wurden untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass das größte Alfalfa-Wachstum bei Pflanzen erreicht wurde, die insbesondere unter stressfreien Bedingungen doppelt beimpft wurden. Die doppelte Beimpfung erhöhte auch die stomatäre Leitfähigkeit in Kontrollpflanzen, während die Knöllchenzahl und die Mykorrhiza-Infektion unter beiden Bedingungen erhöht wurden. Der Salzstress hatte keinen Einfluss auf die Effizienz des Photosystems II. Die ein- oder zweifache Beimpfung erhöhte jedoch die Effizienz. Die RhLO1- oder AM + RhLO1-Symbiose könnte die schädlichen Auswirkungen des Salzstresses auf Alfalfa lindern. Sie könnten ein höheres Blattwasserpotenzial aufrechterhalten (LWP Ψ), die Elektrolytverluste und den Gehalt an Malondialdehyd (MDA) reduzieren und die Ansammlung geeigneter Osmolyten (Zucker) und antioxidativer Enzyme als Abwehrstrategie induzieren. Somit waren diese autochthonen Mikroorganismen für Alfalfa-Pflanzen wirksam, um Salzschäden zu lindern und das Pflanzenwachstum und die Produktivität zu verbessern.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to Dr. Thouria Bourhim, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, for her critical reading, valuable suggestions and corrections during writing this article.
Funding
This work was funded by the Ministère marocain de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche Scientifique et de la Formation des Cadres, Morocco.
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R. Ben Laouane, A. Meddich, N. Bechtaoui, K. Oufdou and S. Wahbi declare that they have no competing interests.
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Ben Laouane, R., Meddich, A., Bechtaoui, N. et al. Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Rhizobia Symbiosis on the Tolerance of Medicago Sativa to Salt Stress. Gesunde Pflanzen 71, 135–146 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-019-00461-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-019-00461-x