Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance basil tolerance to salt stress through improved physiological and nutritional status

Pot experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of salt stress on some physiological and biochemical attributes in sweet basil (ocimum basilicum l.) cultivars differing in salt sensitivity and to determine the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (amf) in ameliorating the salt stress in plant. salt stress (250 mm nacl) reduced the colonization potential of amf and inhibited photosynthetic pigments,chlorophyll and carotenoids in plant tissue. amf inoculated plants maintained higher contents of cholorphyll pigments. salt stressed plants showed increased lipid peroxidation,antioxidant enzyme activities like superoxide dismutase (sod),ascorbate peroxidase (apx) and peroxidase (pod). plants inoculated with amf showed lower lipid peroxidation and enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities. moreover,the content of lipids,proline,and soluble sugars in basil plants was improved with amf inoculation. amf positively affected the uptake of important mineral elements and also reduced the uptake of deleterious ions like na+. hence amf mitigated the impact of salinity on growth by reducing the oxidative damage through strengthening of the antioxidant system. tolerant cultivar maintained higher activities of antioxidant enzymes and accumulation of osmolytes resulting in better growth than sensitive one. © 2016,pakistan botanical society. all rights reserved.