Affiliation:
1. Monash University Malaysia
Abstract
Trichoderma asperellum and Pseudomonas fluorescens were first
established for their tolerance to salinity. They were bioprimed onto two
common vegetable seeds (pak choy and chilli) using sodium alginate (for T.
asperellum, TAB) and xanthan gum (for P. fluorescens, PFB) and sown into
soils amended with NaCl (salinity stress). Both T. asperellum and P.
fluorescens have high salt tolerance (up to 250 mM of NaCl) concentration).
Bioprimed seedlings had sustained growth in saline soils (2.72 – 3.05
dS/m). Pak choy seedlings benefited the most from biopriming with TAB or
PFB seedlings, showing enhanced fresh weight, shoot length, root length and
germination, compared to non-bioprimed seedlings. For chilli seedlings,
only shoot length was enhanced. Tolerance to salinity was marked by lower
levels of proline (0.62-2.73 µmol/g fr. wt.), total phenolic content
(80.29-130.10 mg GAE/100 g fr. wt.), and malondialdehyde (0.29-0.61 µmol/g
fr. wt.) compared to non-bioprimed seedlings (NB) under salinity stress
(1.87-3.55 µmol/g fr. wt. for proline, 105.60-278.82 mg GAE/100 g fr. wt.
for total phenolic content, 0.33-0.61 µmol/g fr. wt. for malondialdehyde).
Our early observations showed the potential of biopriming salt-tolerant
isolates to enhance survival of important vegetable crops in saline soils.
Funder
Malaysia Toray Science Foundation