2018 Volume 56 Issue 4 Pages 187-192
Plants in natural conditions are often subjected to different stressors simultaneously. Such as in strawberry cultivation, salt stress and Fusarium wilt under saline environment aggravate production. In this study, beneficial soil microorganism arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi mediated cross-protection in strawberry plants under salt stress and Fusarium wilt disease conditions were examined. Mycorrhizal (Gigaspora margarita) and control plants of strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa Duch., cv. Tochiotome) were subjected to 200 mM NaCl and causal pathogen (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae, Fof). Mycorrhization enhanced plant growth in without stress, salt, Fof and dual (salt＋Fof) stress conditions compare with control plants. Moreover, mycorrhization reduced Na＋ but increased K＋ levels in plants under salt stress subsequently, disease incidence, index, and pathogen population were also lower in mycorrhizal plants. As for antioxidant activities, mycorrhizal plants had increased activities of superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidise. In addition, higher production of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and ascorbic acid contents found under conditions were observed. These results suggested that mycorrhization enhanced strawberry plant growth by maintaining a higher antioxidant capacity against oxidative stress, resulted in the protection of plants against dual stress conditions.
