VEGETOS: Um Jornal Internacional de Pesquisa Vegetal

Effect of AM Fungus Glomus fasciculatum on Metabolite accumulation in Four Varieties of Triticum aestivum L. Under Short-term Water stress

VS Bheemareddy and HC Lakshman

Water stress is considered to be the main environmental factor limiting growth development and affecting the development of many crop plants. AM fungi are a type of endomycorrhiza known to enhance adoption ability of host plants under water stress conditions and help the host plants to cope up with situations of drought. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relative physiological indices in mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal Triticum aestivum L. Var in response to water stress applied at 60 DAS and 90 DAS for ten days. Experiments were conducted on four Triticum aestivum L. varieties namely DWR 162, DWR195, DWR 225 and NI 5439 with and without mycorrhizal inoculation. Glomus fasciculatum was the AM fungus used for inoculation. Accumulation of plant metabolites such as proline, carbohydrates, proteins and peroxidase were determined in four Triticum aestivum L. varieties under inoculated and control conditions with and without water stress. Results revealed that there is more accumulation of metabolites in mycorrhizal plants than nonmycorrhizal plants. Under water stress conditions, mycorrhizal plants accumulated more metabolites than nonmycorrhizal plants. Among the four Triticum aestivum L.varieties DWR 225 and DWR 162 have shown more accumulation of metabolites to tolerate water stress by improving osmotic adjustment.