Abstract

AGUERO-FERNANDEZ, Y. Milagro et al. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as agents of NaCl mitigators in basil seedlings. Nova scientia [online]. 2016, vol.8, n.17, pp.60-86. ISSN 2007-0705.

In nature, plants are exposed to various stress conditions that retard their development and decrease yield. One of the most widespread agricultural problems is the accumulation of salts in the soil surface or salinization of irrigation water. The objective of the study was to evaluate a consortium of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) of the species Funneliformis mosseae y Claroideoglomus etunicatum inoculated to the seed coat as possible mitigators of NaCl stress on seedling basil varieties in the emergence stage. A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement was used. Factor 1 was three varieties of basil (Nuffar, Genovese and Napoletano), factor 2 was three levels of salt stress (0, 50 and 100 mM NaCl) and factor 3, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (0 -control- and 1 g of the inoculum) with four replications of 30 seeds each. The chemical composition of the substrate and inoculum, the rate and emergence percentage, seedling height, root length, fresh biomass of shoot and root and percentage of colonization was assessed. The results showed that both the substrate and the inoculum were suitable for the development of species of AMF and plant species under study. None of the roots of seedlings of the varieties under study showed presence of vesicles, arbuscules and/or hyphaes. All variables showed higher values in those seedlings whose seeds were inoculated with AMF. The varieties showed differences for rate and emergence percentage, seedlings heigh, root length and fresh biomass of shoot, being superior over Napoletano, Nufar and Genovese. The values of rate and emergence percentage, seedlings heigh, root length and fresh biomass of root, decreased as NaCl concentrations increased.

Keywords : Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; sodium chloride; emergence.