The Effects of Endophytic Fungus Piriformospora indica on Morphophysiological Traits of Pyrus Rootstock cv. Pyrodvarf under Salinity Stress Conditions

Abstract

AbstractBackground & Objective: The pear is one of the most important fruit trees in temperate regions and is salt-sensitive trees. Studies have shown that the use of Piriformospora indica as an endophytic fungus reduces the adverse effects of salinity stress on plants and improves morphophysiological traits. Materials & Methods: In the present study, the experiment was performed as a factorial completely randomized design with 5 replications on the pyrus rootstock CV Pyrodvarf in pot culture experiment. The first factor includes two levels of P. indica fungus (inoculation and non-inoculation) and the second factor is four salinity levels of soil (1.7, 3, 4.5 and 6 dS.m-1) using sodium chloride. After inoculation with the fungus, the salinity levels were applied to the plants. Results: The results showed that the interaction effect of salinity × fungi on morphophysiological characteristics, total chlorophyll content (P <0.05), branch diameter growth, electrolyte leakage, proline, soluble sugars, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase enzymes and root colonization percentage (P <0.01) were significant. At the highest salinity levels (6 dS/m), fungal inoculation caused an increase in surface-to-root dry weight ratio (38.81%), branch diameter growth (31.14%), total chlorophyll (27.72%), peroxidase (100%), polyphenol oxidase (62.5%) and root colonization percentage (100%) and decrease in electrolyte leakage rate (19.34%), proline (10.34%) and soluble sugars (8.77%) ) compared to non-inoculated control plants.Conclusion: In general, the results of this study showed that the coexistence of P. indica can modulate the destructive effects of salinity on this pear cultivar.

Keywords

• keywords: chlorophyll
• electrolyte leakage
• endophytic fungus
• pear
• relative water content