Plant Soil Environ., 2020, 66(6):264-271 | DOI: 10.17221/206/2020-PSE

Response of growth and drought tolerance of Acacia seyal Del. seedlings to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungiOriginal Paper

Abdelmalik M. Abdelmalik, Thobayet S. Alsharani, Abdulaziz A. Al-Qarawi, Abdalla I. Ahmed ORCID...*, Ibrahim M. Aref
Department of Plant Production, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Considering the improvement of acacia species growth in arid and semi-arid environment, a pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF); Funneliformis mosseae (syn. Glomus mosseae), Rhizophagus intraradices (syn. Glomus intraradices) and Claroideoglomus etunicatum (syn. Glomus etunicatum) on growth and drought tolerance of Acacia seyal Del. seedlings under drought cycles (7, 14, 21 and 28 days). AMF-inoculated seedlings showed a clear colonisation percentage (36-68%). AMF treatment significantly improved seedlings shoot and root growth under all drought cycles compared to non-AMF control seedlings. Moreover, AMF treatment enhanced seedlings drought resistance by increasing root surface area (root length increased by 483.76% and root tips number increased by 1 463.94% under 28 days of drought cycle), there was a strong linear relation between proline accumulation, AMF and drought stress (proline content decreased in treated seedlings by 31.3% and 14.3% and increased by 97.5% and 80.4% in untreated seedlings under drought cycles of 21 and 28 days, respectively). In conclusion, the AMF inoculation improved growth and enhanced drought tolerance of A. seyal seedlings and can be used as a natural biostimulator for acacias seedlings establishment in arid areas.

Keywords: abiotic stress; water limitation; forest ecosystem; reforestation; stress symbiosis; biomass

Published: June 30, 2020  Show citation

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Abdelmalik AM, Alsharani TS, Al-Qarawi AA, Ahmed AI, Aref IM. Response of growth and drought tolerance of Acacia seyal Del. seedlings to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Plant Soil Environ. 2020;66(6):264-271. doi: 10.17221/206/2020-PSE.
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