The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on growth and physiological indices and absorption of some nutrients of scallion (Allium fistulosum)

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are one of the most important soil microorganisms. They have mutualistic relationships with more than 90% of terrestrial plant species. In order to investigate the effect of Rhizophagus intraradices and Funneliformis mosseae on some growth and physiological traits and the uptake of some nutrients by scallion seedlings, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications under greenhouse conditions. The investigated factors included the mixed application of arbuscular mycorrhizal species in three levels (seed treatment, soil treatment and control) and soil sterilization at two levels (sterile and non-sterile). The results showed that all the studied factors in scallion plants inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi significantly increased compared to non-mycorrhizal plants. The highest fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots were obtained by mycorrhizal seed treatment and soil treatment in sterile soil, respectively. The highest shoot height, phosphorus concentration and nitrogen uptake of scallion were obtained by mycorrhizal soil treatment in sterile soil. The mycorrhizal colonization, the amount of copper, zinc, manganese and iron concentrations, chlorophyll a, b, total and carotenoids contents increased significantly in scallion inoculated with mycorrhizal seed treatment compared to other treatments. In general, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi used by seed treatment in sterile soil are able to improve the growth of scallions by increasing the absorption of nutrients and photosynthetic pigments.