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Response of Three Sweet Basil Cultivars to Inoculation with Bacillus subtilis and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal
Fungi under Salt Stress Conditions

Research Authors
Sayed S.A. Abdel-Rahman, Atef A.S. Abdel-Kader and Soha E. Khalil
Research Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of inoculation with Bacillus subtilis and/or
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus (AMF) or maintained as uninoculated controls on the growth, oil %, oil yield and nutrient uptake of three sweet basil cultivars (Local cultivar, Nano Compatt and Red Bordaux) under different salt stress levels (0, 1000, 2000 and 4000 ppm). Results indicated that the high salinity level (4000 ppm) caused significantly reduction in plant height, fresh and dry weights of the herb, number of branches/plant, oil % and oil yield as well as contents of N, P and K in leaves of all studied sweet basil cultivars. Meanwhile, sodium Na+ content in leaves were high, especially at high NaCl concentration. Red Bordaux cultivar was more sensitive to salinity stress than Local and Nano Compatt cultivars. Inoculation with Bacillus subtilis and/or mycorrhizal fungi showed positive effects on growth, oil %, oil yield and nutrient uptake either with or without the salinization treatment. Mycorrhizal colonization showed enerally more pronounced effects than B. subtilis. Dual inoculation with B. subtilis and mycorrhizae provided higher tolerance to salinity compared with the individual treatment. It could be concluded that inoculation of sweet basil cultivars with B. subtilis and mycorrhizal fungi may induce increases in tolerance to salinity of the three tested sweet basil cultivars.

Research Department
Research Journal
Nature and Science
Research Publisher
NULL
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
volume 9 No. 6
Research Website
http://www.sciencepub.net/nature
Research Year
2011
Research Pages
93-111