Effect of mycorrhizal arbuscular fungi in improvement of the growth parameters of Glcyrrhiza glabra L. under drought stress

Drought stress is considered as one of the most serious abiotic stresses that limit plant growth. The symbiotic relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and the roots of higher plants is an important component to cope with water stress. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth parameters of liquorice affected by inoculation of Funneliformis mosseae fungus under different irrigation levels. This experiment was arranged in a factorial completely randomized design with combination of two factors, soil available water (AW) levels (۱۰۰% AW, ۷۰% AW and ۴۰% AW) and fungi (inoculated with F. mosseae and non-inoculated) with four replications. The results showed that drought stress caused a significant decrease in shoot and root fresh and dry weights, shoot and root lengths and leaf relative water content (RWC) while an increase in root fresh and dry weights. The positive effect of inoculation with fungus observed in shoot biomass and length and total plant dry weight that indicates growth promoting effect of F. mosseae in shoots. Also, root/shoot dry weights ratio and RWC of inoculated plants were more than non-inoculated plants respectively in moisture levels of ۴۰% AW and ۷۰% AW. Overall, our results showed the application of AM fungi could be critical in the cultivation of medicinal plants under arid and semi-arid conditions.

کلیدواژه ها:

Liquorice ، Funneliformis mosseae ، osmotic stress ، biomass ، relative water content