Effects of mycorrhizal infection on drought tolerance and recovery in safflower and wheat

The influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on drought tolerance and recovery was studied in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Plants were grown with and without the mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus etunicatum Becker & Gerd., in nutrient-amended soil under environmentally-controlled conditions to yield mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal with similar leaf areas, root length densities, dry weights, and adequate tissue phosphorus. When drought stress was induced, mycorrhizal infection did not affect changes in leaf water, osmotic or pressure potentials, or osmotic potentials of leaf tissue rehydrated to full turgor in either safflower or wheat. Furthermore, in safflower, infection had little effect on drought tolerance as indicated by the level of leaf necrosis. Mycorrhizal wheat plants, however, had less necrotic leaf tissue than uninfected plants at moderate levels of drought stress (but not at severe levels) probably due to enhanced phosphorus nutrition. To determine the effects of infection on drought recovery, plants were rewatered at a range of soil water potentials from –1 to –4 MPa. We found that although safflower tended to recover more slowly from drought after rewatering than wheat, mycorrhizal infection did not directly affect drought recovery in either plant species. Daily water use after rewatering was reduced and was correlated to the extent that leaves were damaged by drought stress in both plant species, but was not directly influenced by the mycorrhizal status of the plants.