The influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Glomus deserticola (Trappe and John) on plant growth, nutrition, flower yield, water relations, chlorophyll (Chl) contents and water-use efficiency (WUE) of snapdragon (Antirhinum majus cv. butterfly) plants were studied in potted culture under well-watered (WW) and water-stress (WS) conditions. The imposed water stress condition significantly reduced all growth parameters, nutrient contents, flower yield, water relations, and Chl pigment content and increased the electrolyte leakage of the plants comparing to those of nonstressed plants. Regardless of the WS level, the mycorrhizal snapdragon plants had significantly higher shoot and root dry mass (DM), WUE, flower yield, nutrient (P, N, K, Mg, and Ca) and Chl contents than those nonmycorrhizal plants grown both under WW or WS conditions. Under WS conditions, the AM colonization had greatly improved the leaf water potential (Ψw), leaf relative water content (RWC) and reduced the leaf electrolyte leakage (EL) of the plants. Although the WS conditions had markedly increased the proline content of the leaves, this increase was significantly higher in nonmycorrhizal than in mycorrhizal plants. This suggests that AM colonization enhances the host plant WS tolerance. Values of benefit and potential dry matter for AM-root associations were highest when plants were stressed and reduced under WW conditions. As a result, the snapdragon plants showed a high degree of dependency on AM fungi which improve plant growth, flower yield, water relations particularly under WS conditions, and these improvements were increased as WS level had increased. This study confirms that AM colonization can mitigate the deleterious effect of water stress on growth and flower yield of the snapdragon ornamental plant., A. A. Asrar, G. M. Abdel-Fattah, K. M. Elhindi., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We studied the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Glomus constrictum (Trappe), and soil phosphorus (P) on
gas-exchange parameters, growth, and nutrition of soybean plants grown in pots with sterilized soil. Two contrasting concentrations of KH2PO4, i.e. no added and 0.5 g(P) kg-1(soil), were used. Addition of soluble phosphate increased all growth parameters, P and N concentrations, and most of the studied photosynthetic parameters of both the mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants. The mycorrhizal inoculation significantly increased plant growth responses, P and N concentrations in shoot and root tissues, acid and alkaline phosphatase activities, and total soluble proteins in root tissues compared with the nonmycorrhizal plants. The stimulations were related to the level of the mycorrhizal colonization in the root tissues. The mycorrhizal plants showed significantly higher net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate than those of nonmycorrhizal plants, especially in soil without added P. The phosphate addition to soil reduced generally the percentage of the mycorrhizal colonization in the root tissues, and consequently the mycorrhizal benefits. In general, growth, nutrition, and photosynthetic parameters of the soybean plants showed a high degree of dependency on the mycorrhizal fungus in nonfertilized soil when compared with the soil fertilized with P. This study confirmed that AM colonization could improve growth and nutrition of the soybean plant through increasing photosynthesis in leaves, particularly at low P in soil., G. M. Abdel-Fattah, A. A. Asrar, S. M. Al-Amri, E. M. Abdel-Salam., and Obsahuje bibliografii