Vol. 11, Issue 10 (2022)

Author(s):
Arunkumar G Pandit, Earanna N and Suvarna VC

Abstract:
The soil salinization has led to degradation of agricultural soil that exhibit negative impact on crop growth and production. The endophytes aid their host to survive in harsh environmental conditions by adapting to environment along with host plant. With this background the study was conducted to evaluate fungal endophytes isolated from the plants of North western Himalayan region to impart salinity stress tolerance in rice. Forty-eight fungal endophytes were screened for salt stress tolerance using different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 M) of NaCl. Among which four were found to be salt tolerant. They were identified as Ulocladium sp., Fusarium avenaceum, Chaetomium sp. and F. tricinctum by ITS region sequence homology. Under in-vitro condition the fungal endophytes inoculated rice seedlings recorded increased growth compared to uninoculated plants under salinity stress. The endophytes inoculated plants showed increased growth, yield and physiological traits compared to uninoculated plants under greenhouse conditions. Among the four endophytes evaluated, the Fusarium avenaceum showed superior in imparting salt stress besides improving the growth and yield of rice.