Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Colonization Promotes the Tolerance to Salt Stress in Lettuce Plants through an Efficient Modification of Ionic Balance (original) (raw)

Abstract

Soil salinity is the biggest problem which hinders the productivity of agricultural crops, causing adverse effects on plant growth and development. In this regard, it has been shown that the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can establish a symbiosis with most agricultural plants improving water and nutrient absorption under salinity stress conditions. The functional contribution of AMF strains (Claroideoglomus claroideum (Cc) and a native consortium of AMF (HM) isolated from saline soils) on the growth and nutrition of lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa var_. longifolia_) was evaluated under increasing salt stress conditions (0, 40, and 80 mM NaCl). At 60 days of growth, biomass production, nutrient content (N, P), ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+), chlorophyll, proline content, and AMF propagules were evaluated. The highest growth was observed in plants inoculated with Cc, which produced a higher percentage of root colonization and hyphal length at all levels of salinity, compared to plants inoculated with HM or non-inoculated plants. These results were directly related to higher biomass production, increased synthesis of proline, increased N uptake, and noticeable changes in ionic relations, based in a diminishing Na+, compared to non-mycorrhizal plants. Our results suggest that this improved ionic balance is due to a filtering effect of AMF structures both in the soil and in the root that prevents the entry of toxic Na+ ions, which is important due to the level of lettuce production on saline soils improving the crop by means of directed inoculation with efficient AMF strains.

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Funding

The authors thank CONICYT, Chile, for the financial support through a scholarship for Doctoral Thesis, Grant No. 21161211 (C. Santander); FONDECYT Regular Grant No. 1170264 (P. Cornejo); PAI-MEC program, Grant No. 80170023 (A. Valentine); and CONICYT/FONDAP/15130015 (P. Cornejo).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencias Químicas y Recursos Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Micorrizas y Sustentabilidad Agroambiental (CIMYSA), Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de La Frontera, P.O. Box 54-D, Temuco, Chile
    Christian Santander, Fernando Borie & Pablo Cornejo
  2. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Recursos Hídricos (CIDERH), Universidad Arturo Prat, Vivar 493 2nd floor, Iquique, Chile
    Christian Santander & Jorge Olave
  3. Facultad de Farmacia, Programa de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología Analítica, Universidad de Concepción, P.O. Box 237, Concepción, Chile
    Mario Sanhueza
  4. Facultad de Ciencias de Recursos Naturales, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Temuco, Chile
    Fernando Borie
  5. Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
    Alexander Valentine

Authors

  1. Christian Santander
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  2. Mario Sanhueza
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  3. Jorge Olave
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  4. Fernando Borie
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  5. Alexander Valentine
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  6. Pablo Cornejo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence toPablo Cornejo.

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Santander, C., Sanhueza, M., Olave, J. et al. Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Colonization Promotes the Tolerance to Salt Stress in Lettuce Plants through an Efficient Modification of Ionic Balance.J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 19, 321–331 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-019-00032-z

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