Effects of Drought Stress on Corn and Barley Cultured with Mycorrhizal Fungi
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Grant: NSF
Chamodhi Ranathunga
College:
The Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology
Major:
Biology
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Sasmita Mishra
Abstract:
Drought is a key limiting factor in crop production and is expected to become more intense and frequent as a result of climate change. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of mycorrhizal fungi (MF) colonization for enhancing plant growth and alleviating abiotic stresses, including drought. However, it remains unclear whether the responses of different crop species in the presence of MF to drought stress differ among plants with different photosynthetic pathways, such as C3 vs C4. We hypothesized that the degree of response to drought tolerance will vary in different photosynthetic crop types, even with successful mycorrhizal colonization. In this study we compared the responses of C3 and C4 plant types to short-term drought stress. Eight-week-old barley (Hordeum vulgare) and corn (Zea mays) that were cultured with mycorrhizal fungi species (Rhizophagus intraradices) were exposed to drought stress by withholding water for six days in a controlled growth condition in the greenhouse. Parameters such as relative water content (RWC), biomass, shoot length, and chlorophyll content were measured. Interestingly, our study found that over all, MF-colonized plants benefited more. Relative water content in MF-colonized barley plants was higher than corn; in contrast, drought-stressed MF-colonized corn plants had root mass almost equivalent to that of unexposed plants with MF. Results from our study suggest the possibility of varying degrees of MF-related amelioration in drought tolerance in photosynthetically different plant types such as C3 and C4 plant types. This implies that MF may have further influence in the responses of crops to drought in future scenarios of climate change.