Supplementation of Trichoderma improves the alteration of nutrient allocation and transporter genes expression in rice under nutrient deficiencies.

Nutrients are the finite natural resources that are essential for productivity and development of rice and its deficiency causes compromised yield along with reduced immunity against several biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, the potential of Trichoderma reesei has been investigated as a biofertilizer (BF) to ameliorate nutrient stress in different rice cultivars at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. The results indicated that cultivar Heena is much more compatible with BF as compared to cultivar Kiran at 50% nutrient limiting condition. Enhancement in physiological attributes and photosynthetic pigments were observed in BF treated Heena seedlings. The localization of biofertilizer in treated roots was further validated by scanning electron micrographs. This result correlated well with the higher levels of Indole acetic acid and Gibberellic acid in biofertilizer treated rice. Similarly, the uptake of micro-nutrients such as Fe, Co, Cu and Mo was found to be 1.4-1.9 fold higher respectively in BF treated Heena seedlings under 50% nutrient deficient condition. Furthermore, different stress ameliorating enzymes Guaiacol peroxidase, Super oxide dismutase, Total Phenolic Content, Phenol Peroxidase, Phenylalanine ammonia lyase and Ascorbate peroxidase in Heena seedlings were also increased by 1.8, 1.4, 1.2, 2.4, 1.2, and 8.3-fold respectively, at 50% nutrient deficient condition. The up-regulation of different micro and macro-nutrients allocation and accumulation; metal tolerance related; auxin synthesis genes in BF treated Heena as compared to 50% nutrient deficient condition was further supported by our findings that the application of biofertilizer efficiently ameliorated the deficiency of nutrients in rice.