Mutungi Priscillar Mumo, Wekesa Vitalis Wafula, Onguso Justus, Kanga Erustus, Baleba Steve B S, Boga Hamadi Iddi
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Institute for Biotechnology Research, P.O. Box 62000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya.
Wildlife Research and Training Institute, Research, Development and Coordination, P.O. Box 842-20117, Naivasha, Kenya.
FEMS Microbes. 2024 Apr 29;5:xtae012. doi: 10.1093/femsmc/xtae012. eCollection 2024.
To meet the food and feed demands of the growing population, global food production needs to double by 2050. Climate change-induced challenges to food crops, especially soil salinization, remain a major threat to food production. We hypothesize that endophytic fungi isolated from salt-adapted host plants can confer salinity stress tolerance to salt-sensitive crops. Therefore, we isolated fungal endophytes from shrubs along the shores of saline alkaline Lake Magadi and evaluated their ability to induce salinity stress tolerance in tomato seeds and seedlings. Of 60 endophytic fungal isolates, 95% and 5% were from and phyla, respectively. The highest number of isolates (48.3%) were from the roots. Amylase, protease and cellulase were produced by 25, 30 and 27 isolates, respectively; and 32 isolates solubilized phosphate. Only eight isolates grew at 1.5 M NaCl. Four fungal endophytes ( and ) were tested under greenhouse conditions for their ability to induce salinity tolerance in tomato seedlings. All four endophytes successfully colonized tomato seedlings and grew in 1.5 M NaCl. The germination of endophyte-inoculated seeds was enhanced by 23%, whereas seedlings showed increased chlorophyll and biomass content and decreased hydrogen peroxide content under salinity stress, compared with controls. The results suggest that the the four isolates can potentially be used to mitigate salinity stress in tomato plants in salt-affected soils.
为满足不断增长的人口对食物和饲料的需求，全球粮食产量需要在2050年前翻番。气候变化给粮食作物带来的挑战，尤其是土壤盐碱化，仍然是粮食生产的一大威胁。我们推测，从适应盐分的宿主植物中分离出的内生真菌能够使盐敏感作物获得耐盐胁迫能力。因此，我们从盐碱地马加迪湖沿岸的灌木中分离出真菌内生菌，并评估它们在番茄种子和幼苗中诱导耐盐胁迫的能力。在60株内生真菌分离株中，分别有95%和5%来自门和门。分离株数量最多的（48.3%）来自根部。分别有25、30和27株分离株产生淀粉酶、蛋白酶和纤维素酶；32株分离株能溶解磷酸盐。只有8株分离株能在1.5M NaCl条件下生长。在温室条件下测试了4种真菌内生菌（和）在番茄幼苗中诱导耐盐性的能力。所有4种内生菌都成功定殖在番茄幼苗中，并能在1.5M NaCl条件下生长。与对照相比，接种内生菌的种子发芽率提高了23%，而幼苗在盐胁迫下叶绿素和生物量含量增加，过氧化氢含量降低。结果表明，这4种分离株有可能用于缓解盐渍化土壤中番茄植株的盐胁迫。
