Saturday, 15 July 2006
153-6

Mycorrhizal Colonization Promotes Nutritional Qualities of Tomato under Water Deficit Conditions.

Kizhaeral S. Subramanian, Dept of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univ, Coimbatore 641 003, Iran

Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization is ubiquitous in terrestrial ecosystem and widely believed to promote drought tolerance and nutritional qualities of host plants. In order to examine the effects of root colonization by the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Glomus intraradices Schenck & Smith on growth, flower and fruit production, and fruit qualities, a field experiment was conducted at the Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Periyakulam, India. The experimental soil was an Alfisol, sandy loam texture, neutral pH, free from salinity and low to moderate in fertility status. Mycorrhizal inoculation was done @ 100g /m2 in the nursery just prior to sowing of tomato seeds. Tomato plants were transplanted to the main field 28 days after sowing and exposed to varying intensities of drought stress by adjusting the irrigation intervals. Inoculated (M+) and non-inoculated (M-) tomato seedlings were exposed to varying intensities of drought stress by adjusting the irrigation intervals. Mycorrhizal plants had significantly higher uptake of N and P in both roots and shoots regardless of intensities of drought stress. AM inoculation also significantly increased shoot dry matter and the number of flowers and fruits. Further, inoculated plants maintained higher leaf Relative Water Content (RWC) than M- plants at the end of the drought cycle. The fruit yields of M+ plants under severe, moderate, mild drought-stressed and well-watered conditions were higher than M- plants by 24.7%, 23.1%, 16.2% and 12.3%, respectively. Furthermore, M+ plants produced tomato fruits that contain significantly higher quantities of ascorbic acid and Total Soluble Solids (TSS). Mycorrhizal response increased with increasing intensity of drought. The overall results suggest that mycorrhizal colonization affects host plant nutritional status, water stratus, and growth under field conditions and thereby alters reproductive behavior, fruit production and quality of fruits under both well-watered and drought-stressed conditions.


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