The Effect of Microorganisms on Growth and Development of Crops Under Abiotic Stress Conditions

Recently, there has been an increased interest in understanding the mechanism of plant acclimation to environmental stresses. Plants respond to an adverse ecosystem by altering their morphology, physiology, and biochemistry. Some of the adaptations to stress may include the changes in both the nature and levels of primary and secondary metabolites. Some of the adaptations to stress may include the changes in both the nature and levels of primary and secondary metabolites. Recent advances in plant sciences have led to great interest in increasing the production of plant secondary metabolites for their medicinal and aromatic uses. Water stress is one of the most important environmental stresses that can depress growth and alter the biochemical properties of plants. Moreover, soil salinity and water deficit are major problems for development of agricultural production. In this study, effects of growth promoting microorganisms (inoculation with Piriformospora indica and two isolates of Streptomyces sp.) on the leaf yield and absorption rate of some elements in leaves and roots of crops was investigated under salinity and water deficit conditions. The fresh and dry weights of the leaves were significantly affected by microorganism and stress conditions. Effective microorganisms (EM) are important beneficial fungi and bacteria mixed culture that is used as an inoculant to improve soil quality and health, enhance plant growth, yield, and quality. From this study, it was observed that, EM can be used to counter act salt effect in soil and improve growth behavior of plants under salinity conditions and drought stress as well.

Keywords:

morphology , physiology , biochemistry , soil salinity , water deficit.