جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « قارچ اندوفیت » در نشریات گروه « کشاورزی »

Abiotic-stress tolerance and plant growth enhancement can be evoked in crops by the exploitation of beneficial microorganisms and optimal provision of plant nutrients. The effect of inoculation with Serendipita indica and foliar application of potassium on growth and morphophysiological characteristics of Dracocephalum kotschyi plant under drought stress was the goal of the present experiment. The study was conducted in a completely randomized design with two levels of fungus inoculation (non-inoculated and inoculated with S. indica), three levels of potassium application (0, 1 and 3% K) and two levels of drought stress (Field capacity (F.C.) and 50% F.C.) with three replications. The results showed that drought stress decreases the biomass, relative water content, chlorophyll and potassium. While inoculation with S. indica and potassium application increased traits such as shoot and root biomass, relative water content, chlorophyll, potassium and antioxidant enzymes and consequently reduced the harmful effects of drought stress. Drought stress caused membrane instability by increasing electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde, while inoculation with fungus and potassium treatment reduced lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage. Due to the importance of D. kotschyi and the effect of biomass increase on the amount of its medicinal substance, inoculating with S. indica and foliar application of potassium can be a suitable method to enhance the growth and drought stress tolerance of D. kotschyi.

Macrophomina phaseolina causal agent of charcoal rot, stem, and seedling rot, causes economic losses on over 500 plant species including tomato and melon around the world every year. One of the most important and effective alternative methods for chemicals and reducing their risks is biocontrol using different agents such as endophytic fungi. In the present study, the effect of some endophytic fungi on charcoal rot disease and the growth indices of tomato and melon plants were assessed. In the dual culture test, among the 12 endophyte species, five isolates including Chaetomium globosum 2S1, Ch. globosum 3L2, Fusarium fujikuroi 37F6, F. acuminatum GO2L1, and F. incarnatum 25S3 which had the highest inhibition of pathogen mycelia growth, were selected for further tests. In the volatile compounds test, all endophytic isolates showed more than 90% inhibition of pathogen mycelia growth. In biocontrol assay under greenhouse conditions, all endophytic isolates except F. fujikori 37F6, completely prevented disease on both tomato and melon plants. In the evaluation of the growth indices and by comparing the treated plants with the infected and healthy controls, no positive effect of the selected endophytic isolates was observed on the growth indices of both plants. However, they reduced the harmful effects of the pathogen and thus reduced the charcoal rot disease severity. Recovery of endophyte isolates from both inoculated melon and tomato plants showed that the surveyed isolates can become endophytes in plant tissue.

Recent studies show that most crops and horticultural plants can form symbiosis with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and the endophytic Serendepita indica, simultaneously. The endophytic fungus plays an important role in alleviating environmental stresses in plants. It has also been shown that excessive available phosphorus in soil limits the root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. No information is available on how soil phosphorus affects the establishment of endophytic fungus in root. Barley roots can be colonized by both mycorrhizal fungi and the endophytic fungus Serendipita indica. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of single or dual inoculation with Rhizophagus irregularis and Serendipita indica on barley roots under different phosphorus (P) levels. The researchers utilized a monoclonal antibody called MAb32B11 to assess the presence of glomalin, a signature molecule of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, in the roots. The glomalin content was quantified using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method with the MAb32B11 antibody.

In this experiment, barley plants were inoculated with Rhizaphagus irregularis (AMF) and Serendepita indica (endophytic fungus) with three levels of phosphorus from triple super phosphate source. At the end of the vegetative growth period (about three months), the plants were harvested and phosphorus concentration in the plant were measured. A subsample from roots was stored in -20 ºC for determination of glomalin content. The glomalin content in the roots was analyzed using the monoclonal antibody MAb32B11. This antibody was employed to differentiate between the two fungi present in the roots and to quantify the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) specifically in plants treated with Rhizophagus irregularis. Additionally, the content of glomalin in the soil was determined at the end of the experiment using the same method as described above. The experiment was designed as a factorial completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications.

The results showed that the fresh and dry weights of shoot and root increased significantly in dual inoculation. At zero phosphorus level, shoot and root phosphorus concentrations were significantly higher in treatments with R. irregularis than in those without fungus (control). Under individual inoculation with R. irregularis, or S. indica as well as their dual inoculations, increasing level of phosphorus had no significant effect on shoot and root phosphorus concentration. In dual inoculation, the percentage of total colonization (88%) was significantly higher than that of individual inoculation treatment (68%) but the contribution of each fungus in root colonization under dual inoculation was significantly reduced as estimated by glomalin content of root and determination of total colonization. It was found that with increasing phosphorus level, total colonization percentage significantly decreased and the highest percentage of colonization (61%) was observed at zero level of phosphorus. By increasing phosphorus level, the percentage of root colonization was significantly decreased in individual inoculation by R. irregularis, or S. indica as well as dual inoculation. Results of glomalin assay in soil showed that the glomalin content was high in treatments of R. irregularis but control treatments without fungus and individual inoculation with S. indica had low glomalin. Antibody-reactive root glomalin was less in the dual inoculation treatment (1006.9 µg.g-1) than in the R. irregularis treatment alone (1924.5 µg.g-1) indicating that the presence of S. indica, in root inhibits, root colonization by R. irregularis. Moreover, the increasing of phosphorus level, significantly decreased root glomalin.

The increase of available phosphorus concentration in the soil caused to limit the expansion of the symbiosis of R. irregularis and S. indica, and this limitation was more for R. irregularis. In the case of dual inoculation with both Rhizophagus irregularis and Serendipita indica, the negative impact of phosphorus on colonization percentage was observed to be less compared to single inoculation. Although the percentage of colonization by each fungus decreased in the dual inoculation treatment compared to their individual inoculation, the overall colonization percentage increased significantly. It appears that in the dual inoculation scenario, while the total root colonization percentage increases, the presence of S. indica leads to a decrease in the colonization percentage specifically with R. irregularis. But in general, growth and nutrient absorption in the case of dual inoculation was better than the inoculation of each of them individually. It was also found that increasing the concentration of phosphorus in the soil caused a decrease in root colonization for both fungi, although the negative effect of phosphorus on the colonization of R. irregularis was more than that of S. indica. The measurement of glomalin in soil and root showed that the inhibitory effect of S. indica fungus on R. irregularis is less in soil than in root.

Piriformospora indica is one of the growth-promoting microorganisms that can stimulate growth and increase plant tolerance in adverse environmental conditions. To evaluate the effects of P. indica inoculation on some vegetative, physiological, biochemical, and nutrient acquisition parameters and essential oil content of Origanum vulgare L. ssp. vulgare, a pot experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications. Treatments included control (without inoculation) and inoculation with P. indica. The results showed that inoculation with P. indica increased growth parameters, chlorophyll index, total phenols and total flavonoids content, essential oil content, and nutrients uptake of iron, potassium, and phosphorus singnificantly. The highest and lowest amounts for aerial parts fresh yield (3.92 and 3.06 g plant-1), aerial parts dry yield (1.12 and 0.78 g plant-1), chlorophyll index (47 and 42.23), total phenol (4.88 and 2.96 mg GAE g-1 FW), total flavonoids (0.52 and 0.23 mg QE g-1 FW), essential oil content (1.43 and 1.01%), phosphorus (0.41 and 0.35%), potassium (3.8 and 2.6%), and iron (219 and 180 mg kg-1) were obtained in the plants inoculated with fungus and non-inoculated plants, respectively. Inoculation with P. indica decreased the amount of major essential oil compounds such as carvacrol and thymol and increased the amount of ρ-cymene, carvacrol methyl ether, and γ-terpinene compared to the control. Overall, the findings of this study showed that inoculation with growth-promoting microorganisms can improve the morphological and phytochemical traits of oregano by improving nutrients uptake.

The pear is one of the most important fruit trees in temperate regions and is salt-sensitive trees. Studies have shown that the use of Piriformospora indica as an endophytic fungus reduces the adverse effects of salinity stress on plants and improves morphophysiological traits.

In the present study, the experiment was performed as a factorial completely randomized design with 5 replications on the pyrus rootstock CV Pyrodvarf in pot culture experiment. The first factor includes two levels of P. indica fungus (inoculation and non-inoculation) and the second factor is four salinity levels of soil (1.7, 3, 4.5 and 6 dS.m-1) using sodium chloride. After inoculation with the fungus, the salinity levels were applied to the plants.

The results showed that the interaction effect of salinity × fungi on morphophysiological characteristics, total chlorophyll content (P <0.05), branch diameter growth, electrolyte leakage, proline, soluble sugars, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase enzymes and root colonization percentage (P <0.01) were significant. At the highest salinity levels (6 dS/m), fungal inoculation caused an increase in surface-to-root dry weight ratio (38.81%), branch diameter growth (31.14%), total chlorophyll (27.72%), peroxidase (100%), polyphenol oxidase (62.5%) and root colonization percentage (100%) and decrease in electrolyte leakage rate (19.34%), proline (10.34%) and soluble sugars (8.77%) ) compared to non-inoculated control plants.

In general, the results of this study showed that the coexistence of P. indica can modulate the destructive effects of salinity on this pear cultivar.

Rice blast caused by Pyricularia oryzae is the most important disease of rice worldwide. Although application of chemical pesticides can control the disease, but they cause harmful effects on environment and human health. The objective of the current study was to isolate and identify the fungal endophytes of rice as the effective and safe alternatives to chemical fungicides for controlling rice blast disease. Fungal endophytes obtained from leaf, stem, sheath and root samples of rice plants in paddy fields of Mazandaran and Guilan provinces. The antagonistic activities of the fungal endophytes was evaluated in dual culture test in vitro and the most effective strains were selected accordingly for greenhouse experiments. Rice seedlings were treated with the fungal endophytes and p < /em>. oryzae P274 isolate. Disease severity and growth parameters were measured. The lowest blast severity were recorded for Fusarium sp. NR–L645 strain and Microdochium bolleyi NR–L182 strain as 91.67% disease control. In addition, these two fungal endophytes significantly promoted the growth parameters of rice seedlings compared to the control. According to the results of this study, fungal endophytes of rice could be applied as the potential biocontrol agents of rice blast disease and plant growth promoters, but more research is needed for developing them in the future.

This study was carried out to isolate and identify plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) from saline soils and to evaluate the effect of isolated rhizobacteria, as well as symbiotic and endophytic fungi on the concentration of some nutrient elements in wheat plants under salinity stress in greenhouse conditions. Factors included microbial treatments (rhizobacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, endophytic fungus, and control) and salinity levels (no salinity, 8 and 14 dS m-1). At the end of the growth period, the concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) in the shoot of the wheat plant, as well as the percentage of root colonization were measured. Based on growth-promoting trails, three isolates among the ten purified rhizobacteria were selected for phenotypic and molecular identification. Two identified isolates belonged to Pseudomonas genus (Pseudomonas aeruginosa Ur743 and Pseudomonas fluorescens Ur745), and the last one was Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Ur840. When the concentrations of nutrient elements were at the non-salinity level, mycorrhizal fungi were better than other microbial treatments in terms of absorbing P, Fe, and Mn, However, at the highest salinity level (i.e., 14 dS m-1), rhizobacteria significantly improved concentrations of N, P, Fe, and Mn in the plant shoot, compared to the control. Besides, the PGP bacteria increased the concentrations of K and Zn, as well as K:Na ratio by 1.99, 1.71, and 1.37 times, respectively, as compared to the control. In general, native microorganisms isolated from saline soil, as compared to other microorganisms in this study, improved the nutrient uptake and increased the wheat plant biomass under salinity stress.

In order to evaluate the effect of zeolite and Piriformospora indica fungi inoculation on wheat growth and yield under irrigation cut off condition, a field experiment was conducted in a split-factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications in the research farm of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, during 2016-2017 growing season. Experimental factors were three levels of irrigation cutoff (without irrigation cut off, irrigation cutoff from milky-dough stage and irrigation cutoff from flowering stage) as the main plot and four rates of zeolite (0, 4, 8 and 12 ton.ha-1) and two levels of Piriformospora indica fungi inoculation (inoculation and non-inoculation) as sub plots. The results showed that the highest grain yield was obtained under full irrigation condition and application of 12 tons of zeolite per hectare (3849 kg. ha-1), and the lowest was obtained from irrigation cut off at flowering stage and no application of zeolite (1947 kg.ha-1). No significant difference was observed between different levels of zeolite under full irrigation conditions, while in the mild and severe drought conditions application of 8 and 12 tons of zeolite per hectare was advantageous. In irrigation cutoff at milky-dough stage condition, by fungi inoculation, seed yield increased from 3129 to 3647 kg.ha-1. Application of the fungus was effective in irrigation cutoff at flowering stage, such that the grain yield was raised from 2161 to 2917 kg.ha-1. The results of this study indicate that the use of zeolite in combination with soil and inoculation with Piriformospora indica fungi can somewhat compensate wheat grain yield damage in water deficit stress conditions.

One of the basic principles of sustainable agriculture is application of biologic and organic fertilizers in order to reduce chemical inputs consumption and increase soil fertility. Application of manure improves biological activity, physicochemical properties and water holding capacity in soil. Despite these positive effects, increased weed seed bank, outbreak of pests and diseases and accumulation of ammonia in the root of plants are the disadvantages of manure application. Due to the unique attributes of zeolites if they were added at the beginning of composting process can provide ventilatory condition for the activity of aerobic microorganisms and absorbs nutrients, especially nitrogen. Another important solution of improving efficiency of sustainable agriculture ecosystems is use of biofertilizers as the most natural solution to increase biological activity of soil. Symbiosis of plant with mycorrhiza fungi improves nutritional status of plant by increasing water and nutrients absorption. Triticale is a commercial cereal with a vast potential to feed human and animal. This plant can be cultivated in poor soils that are not suitable for wheat production. Finally the aim of this study was to achieve maximum yield of triticale by increasing efficiency of manure compost and simultaneous use of this fertilizer and mycorrhiza.

The experiment was conducted at Research field of Agricultural sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan during 2017-2018. Experimental design was a factorial based on randomized complete block design with four replications. The experimental factors included mycorrhizal application at two levels (application and non-application of mycorrhiza), and mixing of zeolite to manure in six levels (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% by weight of zeolite manure). The size of each experimental unit was 2×2 m2 and planting density was 400 plants per m2. Before the sowing, biofertilizer were shaken completely to cover the whole seeds surface after which the seeds were shadow-dried and planted, irrigation was done immediately after seed sowing. Traits included plant height, peduncle length, spike length, spikes per square meter, number of grains per spike, 1000 grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index were assessed in this experiment.

Based on the results, the interaction between mycorrhizal inoculation and mixing of zeolite with cattle manure were significant on plant height, peduncle length, number of grains per spike, 1000 grain weight and grain yield. The main effect of zeolite and mycorrhiza were significant on spike length, number of grains per spike and biological yield. In inoculation condition the most plant height (124.32 cm) was obtained at the level of 10% zeolite, while in non-inoculation condition the highest plant height (106.62) was obtained at the level of 20% zeolite. The number of spikes per square meter at the level of 20% zeolite (456) was 36% higher than the non-use of zeolite treatment (303). Under inoculation conditions, the highest grain yield (3510.7 kg.ha-1) was belonged to application of 10% zeolite and the lowest grain yield (1579.69 kg.ha-1) was gained from non-application of zeolite treatment. In non-inoculation condition compared to the inoculation treatment, more zeolite was needed to obtain high grain yield and by application of zeolite up to 20 percent gain yield increased.

According to results of the present experiment, application of 10% zeolite in manure compost along with mycorrhiza is recommended to increase the yield of triticale. It can be stated that the addition of zeolite to manure and the use of mycorrhiza fungi is a suitable method for achieving high yield in triticale cultivation.

Introduction: Due to the difficulties in observing root growth in soil, our knowledge regarding soil-root system is limited. The roots are the hidden half of the plants but our knowledge of root’s growing is limited. Now, there are some methods and devices that have been used to analyze and monitoring roots architecture and growth and their relation with soil. The assessment of the root growth of plants is possible with some photographic techniques such as neutron radiography and tomography, as well X-Ray imaging, but the use of these methods for root studies is very costly especially in Iran. The use of the rhizotron can also be one of the most practical and cost effective methods. The rhizotron is a box with a transparent side and uses to study the roots growing by photography or drawing roots on transparent acetate sheets. Here we aimed to introduce the rhizotron as a technique for studying plant roots, and conducted this study to investigate the effects of heterogeneous petroleum pollution in soil and endophytic fungus on growth and distribution of maize root. Materials and Methods: In order to bring rhizotron forward as a method for in situ assessment of growth, establishment and distribution of plant roots a greenhouse experiment was performed. The effect of Piriformospora indica and soil petroleum polluted layers on the growth and distribution of maize (Zea mays L.) roots was studied. The rhizotrons had a wooden frame and back plate, and a removable front cover made of a 4 mm thick glass plate. The inner space was 30 cm high, 20.5 cm wide, and 1.5 cm thick (Figure 1a). The rhizotrons were placed on a rack with a 45˚ inclination to induce roots growing along the front glass to enable visual growth monitoring. The front glass plate was covered with an opaque black plastic to prevent light entering except for the times of observation. Two different patterns of soil-petroleum contamination layering were generated in the packings of the rhizotrons. 1) a shallow layer of 2.5 cm thick petroleum-contaminated soil, underlying of a 2.5 cm and above a 22.5 cm layer of uncontaminated soil (NSC), and 2) 27.5 cm of uncontaminated soil (‘control’). The packing procedure was layer by layer using uniform filling in all three cases. The contaminated soil layers were covered with a 2.5 cm layer of uncontaminated soil in order to facilitate plant establishment. The experiment with three replications was included as the packing methods each for growing maize plants inoculated with and without P. indica, and plant-free controls. The root development was recorded 12, 16, 22, 26, 33, and 45 days after transplanting by tracing all roots that were visible through the front glass on acetate transparencies, then were scanned at 300 dpi and analyzed for parameters such as root length, number of root tips and depth of rooting using the SmartRoot plugin of the software package ImageJ. After the last recording, the experiment was terminated. Roots and shoots were separated after harvesting, weighed and oven-dried. Rhizosphere soil samples were taken from the layer 2.5–5.0 cm below the soil surface for total petroleum hydrocarbons analysis. Results and Discussion: The results well showed that root length, root depth and number of root tips could be monitored by this method. The presence of petroleum pollution in the soil significantly decreased the growth and distribution of roots but inoculated plants had more root length and root depth than uninoculated plants. The number of root tips which representing lateral distribution of roots had similar trend with root the length and they were significantly increased in the inoculated plants as compared with uninoculated ones. Results showed that inoculation of maize by P. indica increases root biomass more than the aboveground biomass. Conclusion: Despite the limitation in the study of the effect of soil treatments on the growth and distribution of plant roots, the use of rhizotron could be a technique to solve this limitation. Our study proved that by using of rhizotron we can show the growth and 2-dimension distribution of plant roots, while the effects of treatment and root-soil interaction could also be assessing by this device.

IntroductionGreen bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the four species of the genus Phaseolus with the highest protein among a variety of commercial plants (Nasri and Khalatbari, 2011(. This plant can be grown in different times in Mazandaran weather conditions (Motaghian et al., 2010). Green beans as well as other crops during their growth stages faced with environmental stresses such as chilling. Chilling stress referred to conditions as temperature between 0 and 10 ᵒC which resulted in damages to the plant (Baninasab, 2009). Chemical and biological inducers can be used to increase chilling stress tolerance of plants. Paclobutrazol (PBZ) is a member of the Tryazol families with growth regulating effect (inhibitors) and increased stress tolerance through changes in plant growth and morphological, anatomical and biochemical changes (Berova et al., 2002; Chaturvedi et al., 2009). Meanwhile, Piriformospora indica fungus is one of the soil microorganisms which form a symbiotic relationship with plants and could increase plant growth and resistance to environmental stresses throughout systemic changes or defense induction (Deshmukh et al., 2006). Hence, the present research was aimed to determine PBZ and P. indica efficiency in green bean tolerance against chilling stress.
Materials and MethodsThe experiment was conducted under controlled conditions at Genetics and Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University in factorial arrangement based on completely randomized design with three replications in 2013. Treatments were three levels of chilling stress (control, three and six days exposure to five centigrade degree temperature), two levels of fungi inoculations (control and inoculation with P. indica) and three levels of PBZ (0, 40 and 80 mg/L). To inoculate the plants with P. indica, fungal spore suspension was prepared (5×105 spore/ml). The sprouted seed were soaked for four hours in fungal suspension and were sown in pots containing two kg of sterilized soil. PBZ was sprayed twice at two stages of five and six week after sowing. Then pots were transferred to growth chamber after eight weeks from sowing and then chilling stress was imposed. After 12 hours of stress, aerial dry weight, SPAD value, chlorophyll a, b and a, carotenoid content and electrolyte leakage were measured. The data were analyzed using SAS statistical software and significant differences between means were estimated using least significant difference (LSD) test at PResults and discussionResults showed that chilling stress particularly for six days decreased aerial dry weight, chlorophyll a and b and carotenoid content (nearly 19, 18 and 8%, respectively) as compared to the uninoculated control. In all levels of chilling stress, however, P. indica inoculation increased plant dry weight in which the most beneficial effect (up to 65%) was recorded in severe stress. Mean comparison of three factors indicated that at all levels of chilling stress and PBZ, P. indica increased leaf and whole plant dry weight at the range of eight to 280% and 0 to 143%, respectively. The maximum increase for leaf dry weight (2.68 g/plant) was recorded where inoculated plants grown in normal conditions in no applied PBZ. Furthermore, the highest value of aerial dry weight (3.42 g/plant) recorded in plants which inoculated both with P. indica and sprayed with 80 mg/L of PBZ under normal conditions. PBZ spraying at the rate of 40 mg/L increased chlorophyll a, carotenoid and SPAD value by 5, 9 and 7%, respectively. In inoculated plants, however, PBZ spraying decreased plant dry weight particularly at the rate of 40 mg/L (nearly 17%). PBZ spraying, also, reduced electrolyte leakage in which the maximum reduction (up to 20% lower than non-application) was obtained with 80 mg/L of PBZ.
ConclusionIn conclusion, the results indicated that P. indica inoculation along with Paclobutrazol spraying had a positive effect on chilling tolerance in green beans. Therefore, these factors can be used to induce chilling stress tolerance. However, further tests should also be applied to other growth stages of plant.

Nowadays the use of low-input farming systems and innovation modern management techniques of resources utilization in order to achieve the aims of sustainable agriculture has been particularly important. Bio-fertilizers application and intercropping systems are important approaches to achieve the objectives of ecological agriculture, which can improve temporal and spatial agricultural productivity. The use of bio-fertilizers in intercropping not only increases soil fertility, and reduces the use of chemical fertilizers, but also can lead to improve yield and quality of products. The endophyte fungus, are known as one of the most important classes of soil microorganisms, induce physiological and ecological alterations in their host plant and thus increase its yield. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of fungus Piriformospora indica on yield, yield components and phosphorus content of soybean and millet in intercropping.
The experiment was carried out as a factorial based on a randomized complete block design with three replications, in 2015 at the Research Station of Agricultural Faculty of Bu-Ali Sina University. The factors included of two levels of fungus P. indica (inoculated and non-inoculated) and five levels of replacement intercropping series consisted of monoculture of soybean (S), monoculture of millet (M), 67 % S 33 % M (67S:33M), 50 % S 50 % M (50S:50M) and 33 % S 67 % M (33S:67M). Different patterns of intercropping are replacement method and planting ratios were adjusted by altering the number of rows cultivation.
The results demonstrated that in all intercropping treatments, the highest phosphorus concentration of soybean and millet (0.39 and 0.32 percent, respectively) were achieved in 50S:50M intercropping. Application of P. indica caused an increase in phosphorus concentration of soybean and millet about 31.6 and 22.9 percent respectively, compared to control. P. indica, caused an increase in the number of ears per plant of millet in different intercropping patterns. In inoculated with P. indica the increased the number of ears per plant of millet at 50S:50M intercropping by 28.3 percent in comparison with no-inoculation. The highest number of pods per plant in soybean (54 and 53 pods in plant) obtained in 50S:50M and 33S:67M ratios with P. indica, respectively. Fungus P.indica increased number of seeds per pod of soybean up to 16.4 percent in compared to control. In all intercropping treatments, land equivalent ratio was more than one. Maximum value of land equivalent ratio (1.14) was achieved in 50S:50M intercropping in inoculated plants with P. indica. Calculating the aggressivity index showed that millet was more dominate than soybean.
Application of fungus P. indica and replacement intercropping of soybean and millet, could improve yield and effectiveness indices of mixed cropping of above mentioned crops, because of increasing nutrient uptake efficiency.

Oak is the most important forest tree in Kurdistan province (Iran). Fungi are associated with oak trees as parasite, saprophyte and endophyte. The endophytic fungi are known components of biodiversity and have beneficial effects on host plants. During 2012-13 in a survey on endophytic fungi of oak trees in forest regions of Kurdistan province asymptomatic samples were collected from healthy twigs, stems and leaves. Isolation were made by plating pieces of samples, after washing with distilled water and surface sterilization with 70% ethanol, on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) supplemented with antibiotic. After incubation at 25o C under constant darkness for two weeks 67 isolates were obtained. Purification was made by transferring single spores to PDA plates. Based on morphological characters and ITS-rDNA sequence data, five species including Cladosporium tenellum, Paecilomyces formosus, Petriella guttulata, Preussia australis, and Sordaria sibutii were identified as new taxa for Iran mycobiota. All of these species are reported here as endophytic fungi from oak trees for the first time.

During the study on endophytic fungi of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), 655 fungal isolates were obtained and studied taxonomically. Based on morphological and ITS sequences data, 15 species belonging to 10 genera including Alternaria brassicicola, A. chlamydospora, A. malorum, A. atra, Arthrinium phaeospermum, A. sacchari, Aspergillus nidulans, A. wentii, Beauveria bassiana, Cheatomium elatum, Epicoccum nigrum, Geosmithia pallida, Paecillomyces variotii, Cytospora punicae,and Verrucobotrys geranii are introduced as endophytic fungi of grapevine. Grapevineis as matrix nova for all mentioned species in Iran. Also, all identified species except A. phaeospermum, B. bassiana, and E. nigrum are reported for the first time as endophytic fungi of grapevine worldwide. Four species viz. A. sacchari, C. punicae, G. pallid, and V. geranii are introduced and described for the first time from Iran.

Salinity is a major worldwide obstacle of crop production. A greenhouse experiment, using a factorial experimental based on Completely Randomized Design with three replicates was conducted to investigate the effect of the endophytic fungus of Piriformospora indica on responses of wheat under different levels of salinity stress (0.2, 4, 8 and 12 dS m-1). Salt stress decreased concentration of P, chlorophyll content and relative water content. Increasing in water salinity levels was accompanied in decreasing of relative water content. Plant colonized with the P. indica had a higher concentration of P and chlorophyll content. Yield and yield components of wheat were reduced under salt stress; however, application of the fungus decreased the negative effects of salinity and improved the yield. Number of grains per spike, grain weight and number of the spike per plant enhanced by the fungus treatment. Plants inoculated with P. indica had higher height and spike length compared to the non-inoculated plants under the highest salinity level. It is concluded that P. indica could reduce the negative effects of salinity stress in wheat plant.