Effect of Salinity Stress and Microbial Inoculations on Glomalin Production and Plant Growth Parameters of Snap Bean (<i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i>)

oleh: Claudia Lyl Garcia, Sanku Dattamudi, Saoli Chanda, Krishnaswamy Jayachandran

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2019-09-01

Deskripsi

Salinity is a major abiotic stress that can adversely affect plant growth, yield, other physiological parameters, and soil health. Salinity stress on biomass production of salt-sensitive crops, like snap bean (<i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i>), is a serious problem, and specifically in South Florida, USA, where saline soils can be found in major agricultural lands. Research studies focused on the &#8216;snap bean&#8722;<i>Rhizobium</i>&#8722;arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)&#8217; relationship under salinity stress are limited, and fewer studies have evaluated how this tripartite symbiosis affects glomalin production (GRSP), a glycoprotein released by AMF. A shade house experiment was conducted to elucidate the effects of three microbial inoculations (IC = inoculation control; IT1 = AMF and IT2 = AMF + <i>Rhizobium</i>) on three salinity treatments (SC = salinity control 0.6 dS m<sup>&#8722;1</sup>, S1 = 1.0 dS m<sup>&#8722;1</sup>, and S2 = 2.0 dS m<sup>&#8722;1</sup>) on snap bean growth and yield. Our results indicate that S2 reduced 20% bean biomass production, 11% plant height, 13% root weight, and 23% AMF root colonization. However, microbial inoculations increased 26% bean yield over different salinity treatments. Maximum salinity stress (S2) increased 6% and 18% GRSP production than S1 and SC, respectively, indicating the relative advantage of abiotic stress on AMF&#8217;s role in soil. Dual inoculation (IT2) demonstrated a beneficial role on all physiological parameters, biomass production, and GRSP synthesis compared to single inoculation (IT1) treatment with all three salinity levels.