Irrigation water quality markedly shapes plant growth and physiological functioning, particularly under integrated biotic and abiotic stresses. This study evaluated the influence of irrigation water types, tap water (TW), domestic wastewater (DWW), Lyari wastewater (LWW), and Malir wastewater (MWW), interacting with wastewater-isolated bioprotectant
Trichoderma viride
on
Abelmoschus esculentus
infected with soil-borne pathogens
Fusarium oxysporum
and
Rhizoctonia solani
. Morphological traits, together with ITS amplicon sequencing and BLAST analysis, confirmed
T. viride
(PZ212855). Plants treated with LWW and
T. viride
showed pronounced enhancements in agronomic and physiological traits, i.e., enhanced plant height (101.25 ± 2.87 cm), fresh biomass (24.04 ± 0.86 g), dry biomass (8.45 ± 0.32 g), leaf number (20.25 ± 0.75), fruit fresh biomass (14.33 ± 0.55 g), chlorophyll a (2.12 ± 0.0 4 mg/g F.wt), chlorophyll b (1.30 ± 0.02 mg/g F.wt), total chlorophyll (3.42 ± 0.02 mg/g F.wt), carotenoids (0.75 ± 0.02 mg/g F.wt), and total soluble proteins (1.66 ± 0.02 mg/g F.wt). These increases corresponded with the greater nutrient content of LWW and DWW, which met FAO irrigation standards. DWW upgraded plant functioning, but its slightly higher arsenic concentration required mitigation using
T. viride
in the rhizosphere. MWW, exhibiting greater physicochemical loads and higher arsenic, generated oxidative stress, increased H
2
O
2
(2.74 ± 0.01 nm/g F.wt) and MDA (0.97 ± 0.03 nm/g F.wt), and reduced growth.
T. viride
partially mitigated these effects by regulating antioxidant enzyme activity. Overall, integrating nutrient-rich wastewater with
T. viride
improved plant growth, yield, and stress resilience under challenging conditions.
Paras Shah, Yuan-Hong Wu, S. Pollmann et al.· Frontiers in Microbiology· 0 citations
Salinity is a major constraint to crop productivity. Beneficial plant–fungus interactions represent a promising strategy to enhance stress resilience. Here, we investigated fungal endophytes isolated from the roots of Oryza sativa cultivated in saline-prone marshlands of the Guadalquivir River, Spain. From a collection of 38 isolates, five salt-tolerant strains exhibiting plant growth-promoting activity were identified, including a previously uncharacterized Reticulascus sp. strain S5. Co-cultivation assays with the non-native host plant Arabidopsis thaliana demonstrated that S5 increased the root and shoot biomass under salt stress. To elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms, a comprehensive RNA-Seq analysis of the roots and shoots under control and saline conditions was performed. Fungal colonization induced pronounced transcriptomic changes, particularly in the shoots, including rewiring of the auxin- and abscisic acid-related pathways and the induction of genes associated with cell wall remodeling. Concurrently, defense-related processes, including glucosinolate biosynthesis and ethylene signaling, were broadly repressed, suggesting attenuated stress perception in colonized plants. In the roots, S5 inoculation suppressed the expression of genes involved in root hair development and cell wall organization, indicating a fungus-driven reconfiguration of root development. Moreover, comparative analysis with Fusarium sp. K-23, a fungus that has previously been demonstrated to promote plant growth under salinity stress, revealed distinct root-associated mechanisms but convergence on a shared regulatory module in shoots involving ABA-responsive transcription factors and osmotic stress regulators. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that Reticulascus sp. S5 enhances plant salt stress tolerance through the coordinated transcriptional reprogramming of growth, hormone signaling, and stress responses, highlighting a possible potential of habitat-adapted endophytes for sustainable crop improvement.
Silvia Martínez-Fenoll, Adrián González Ortega-Villaizán, E. Rodríguez-Dobreva et al.· International Journal of Mol...· 0 citations
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