Microbial Inoculants Offer Cost-Effective Solution for Crop Resilience in Saline Soils

Strategic Insights -

Microbial inoculants have been identified as a promising approach to enhance crop resilience in saline soils, offering a cost-effective and eco-friendly solution to the global challenge of soil salinization. Soil salinization, which affects over 3% of the Earth's terrestrial surface, can reduce crop yields by more than 50% due to osmotic, ionic, and oxidative stress. Researchers have turned to beneficial microorganisms, particularly endophytic fungi, to mitigate salt stress in plants. A study published in Tropical Plants by Yanping Hu and Yang Zhou's team, Hainan University, has demonstrated the effectiveness of a salt-tolerant endophytic fungus, F. incarnatum LG-BZ-9, in improving maize growth and salt tolerance.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study isolated 426 cultivable root endophytic fungi from 1,180 tissue blocks of Sesuvium portulacastrum using a tissue block method.
  • The fungi were classified into 112 distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs) through sequencing and analysis.
  • Fusarium was identified as the most prevalent genus, followed by Pleosporales and Monosporascus.
  • A plate screening method revealed that eight EF strains, including LG-BZ-9, showed enhanced growth under saline conditions.
  • Strain LG-BZ-9 was further evaluated for its effects on maize growth under salt stress, resulting in significantly improved growth, including increased fresh weight, plant height, and chlorophyll content.
  • LG-BZ-9 treatment led to a higher potassium (K+) concentration and lower sodium (Na+) concentration in maize tissues, improving the K+/Na+ ratio and enhancing the plant's salt tolerance.

Statistics:

  • 426 cultivable root endophytic fungi (EF) were isolated from the study.
  • 112 distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were classified through sequencing and analysis.
  • The Shannon-Wiener index showed the highest diversity in regions such as HK-BS (2.45).
  • The Simpson index was highest in QH-GH (0.91).
  • Eight EF strains, including LG-BZ-9, showed enhanced growth under saline conditions, with colony diameters 1.6 to 1.8 times larger than the control.

Sources:

  • [1] Yanping Hu and Yang Zhou's team, Hainan University (2025). "Characterization and Screening of Endophytic Fungi from Sesuvium portulacastrum for Salt-Tolerance Enhancement." Tropical Plants, Volume 5, Issue 1.
  • DOI: 10.48130/tp-0025-0005
  • NCBI database
  • NewsRx LLC (2025). "Microbial Inoculants Offer Cost-Effective Solution for Crop Resilience in Saline Soils." VerticalNews Health & Science.