Potentials of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungus in Tolerating Drought in Maize (Zea mays L.)

Odunayo Joseph Olawuyi, Adegboyega Christopher Odebode, Busayo Joshua Babalola, Ezekiel Taiwo Afolayan, Chidinma Pauline Onu

Biology Department, Federal College of Education Abeokuta, Abeokuta, Nigeria.
Department of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Lagos, Nigeria.
Department of Botany, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2014.56092                

Abstract

Maize is one of the most important cereal crops widely grown for food, feed, and fodder/forage throughout the world in a range of agroecological environments. Drought stress continues to haunt the maize farmers across south western part of Nigeria, thereby leading to low quantity of this essential staple food in the market. Efforts have been made to enhance the growths and yields in maize by investigating the influence of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Gigaspora gigantea) on the tolerance of maize to drought stress. The experiment was conducted in the teaching and research farm of Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria. The experiment was laid out in a complete randomized design with four replicates. Data were collected on eight morphological drought related characters. The objective of this research work was to evaluate the morpho-agronomic responses and potential of Gigaspora gigantea colonization in maize drought tolerance, and also to select parents in maize breeding for improved yield related components. The combined analysis of variance showed significant (P < 0.05) treatment effect on majority of the traits evaluated. The treatments of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungus (AMF) produced significant higher growth related traits suggesting that AMF treated plants had higher potential in influencing the tolerance to drought. Accession 3 was considered best for most of the traits studied and can be selected as parents in maize breeding for yield related components.

Keywords

Maize; Gigaspora gigantea; Drought Stress; Tolerance; Growth; Yields

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Food and Agriculture Organization (2010) Coorganized by the Agriculture and Cosumer Production Department of FAO in Collaboration with Embrapa, IICA and IFAD.
[2]	Logroño, M.L. and Lothrop. J.E. (1997) Impact of Drought and Low Nitrogen on Maize Production in South Asia. In: Edmeades, G.O., Bänziger, M., Mickelson, H.R. and Peña-Valdivia, C.B., Eds., Developing Drought and Low-N Tolerant Maize, CIMMYT, El Batan, Mexico, 39-43.
[3]	Olakojo. S.A. (2004) Evaluations of Maize Inbreed Lines for Tolerance to Striga lutea in Southern Guinea Savannah Ecology. Food, Agriculture and Environment, 2, 256-259.
[4]	Hillel, D. and Rosenzweig, C. (2002) Desertification in Relation to Climate Variability and Change. Advances in Agronomy, 77, 1-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2113(02)77012-0
[5]	Campos, H., Cooper, M., Habben, J.E., Edmeades, G.O. and Schussler, J.R. (2004) Improving Drought Tolerance in Maize: A View from Industry. Field Crops Research, 90, 19-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2004.07.003
[6]	Bruce, W.B., Edmeades, G.O. and Barker. T.C (2002) Molecular and Physiological Approaches to Maize Improvement for Drought Tolerance. Journal of Experimental Botany, 53, 13-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/53.366.13
[7]	Bolaños, J. and Edmeades, G.O. (1993) Eight Cycles of Selection for Drought Tolerance in Lowland Tropical Maize. I. Responses in Grain Yield, Biomass, and Radiation Utilization. Field Crops Research, 31, 233-252. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0378-4290(93)90064-T
[8]	Zinselmeier, C., Westgate, M.E., Schussler, J.R. and Jones. R.J. (1995) Low Water Potential Disrupts Carbohydrate Metabolism in Maize (Zea mays L.) Ovaries. Plant Physiology, 107, 385-391.
[9]	Gutiérrez, R. San Miguel, M.Ch. and Larqué-Saavedra, R.A. (1997) Stomatal Conductance in Successive Selection Cycles of the Drought Tolerant Maize Population “Tuxpeño Sequía”. In: Edmeades, G.O., Bänziger, M., Mickelson, H.R. and Peña-Valdivia, C.B., Eds., Developing Drought and Low-N Tolerant Maize, CIMMYT, El Batan, 212-215.
[10]	Setter, T.L. (1997) Role of the phytohormone ABA in Drought Tolerance: Potential Utility as a Selection tool. In: Edmeades, G.O., Bänziger, M., Mickelson, H.R. and Peña-Valdivia, C.B., Eds., Developing Drought and Low-N Tolerant Maize, CIMMYT, ElBatan, 142-150.
[11]	Westgate, M.E. (1997) Physiology of Flowering in Maize: Identifying Avenues to Improve Kernel set during Drought. In: Edmeades, G.O., Bänziger, M., Mickelson, H.R. and Peña-Valdivia, C.B., Eds., Developing Drought and Low-N Tolerant Maize, CIMMYT, El Batan, 136-141.
[12]	Bänziger, M., Edmeades, G.O., Beck, D. and Bellon, M. (2000) Breeding for Drought and Nitrogen Stress Tolerance in Maize: From Theory to Practice. CIMMYT, Mexico D.F. http://www.cimmyt.org/Research/Maize/map/guides_tools/Bred-Drought Maize/BredDroug.htm
[13]	Krishna, H. Singh, S.K., Minakshi, Patel, V.B., Khawale, R.N., Deshmukh, P.S. and Jindal P.C. (2006) Arbuscular-Mycorrhizal Fungi Alleviate Transplantation Shock in Micropropagated Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). Search ResultsThe Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology, 81, 259-263.
[14]	Augé, R.M. (2001) Water Relations, Drought and Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis. Mycorrhiza, 11, 3-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s005720100097
[15]	Olawuyi, O.J., Odebode, A.C., Alfar-Abdullahi, Olakojo, S.A. and Adesoye, A.I. (2010) Performance of Maize Genotypes And Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi In Samara District Of South West Region Of Doha—Qatar. Nigeria Journal of Mycology, 3, 86-100.
[16]	Sylvia, D.E., Hammond, L.C., Bennet, J.M., Hass, J.H. and Linda. S.B. (1993) Field Response of Maize to a VAM Fungus and Water Management. Agronomy Journal, 85, 193-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/agronj1993.00021962008500020006x
[17]	Olawuyi, O.J., Babatunde, F.E. and Njoku Yield, C.G. (2011) Drought Resistance, Fruiting and Flowering of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) as Affected by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (Glomus deserticola) and Inorganic Fertilizers (NPK) Proc. 2nd Techn, Workshop of the Nigerian Organic Agric, Network (NOAN), 13-18.
[18]	Jonathan, S.G., Olawuyi, O.J. and Babalola, B.J. (2013) Evaluation of Okra Accessions in Treatment Combinations of Mycorrhiza Fungus, Mushroom Compost and Poultry Manure. Proceedings of Tropentag Conference on Agricultural Development within the Rural-Urban Continuum, Stuttgart-Hohenheim. www.tropentag.de/abstracts/full/790.pdf
[19]	Meghvansi, M.K., Prasad, K., Harwani, D. and Mahna, S.K. (2008) Response of Soybean Cultivars toward Inoculation with Three Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Bradyrhizobium japonicum in the Alluvial Soil. European Journal of Soil Biology, 44, 316-323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2008.03.003
[20]	Gemma, J.N., Koske, R.E., Roberts, E.M. and Hester. S. (1998) Response of Taxus x media var. densiformis to Inoculation with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 28, 150-153.
[21]	Panwar, J. and Vyas, A. (2002) AM Fungi: A Biological Approach towards Conservation of Endangered Plant in Thar Desert, India. Current Science, 82, 101-103.
[22]	Smith, S.E., Smith, F.A. and Jakobsen, I. (2003) Mycorrhizal Fungi Can Dominate Phosphate Supply to Plant Irrespective of Growth Responses. Plant Physiology, 133, 16-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1104/pp.103.024380
[23]	Marschner, H. (1995) Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants. Academic Press, San Diego.
[24]	Liu, A., Hamel, C., Elmi, A.A., Zhang, T. and Smith, D.L. (2003) Reduction of the Available Phosphorus Pool in Field Soils Growing Maize Genotypes with Extensive Mycorrhizal Development. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 83, 737-744. http://dx.doi.org/10.4141/P02-199
[25]	Liu, A., Plenchette, C. and Hamel, C. (2007) Soil Nutrient and Water Providers: How Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Mycelia Support Plant Performance in a Resource Limited World. In: Hamel, C. and Plenchette, C., Eds., Mycorrhizae in Crop Production, Haworth Food & Agricultural Products Press, Binghamton, 37-66.
[26]	Wright, S.F. (2005) Management of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi. In: Zobel, R.W. and Wright, S.F., Eds., Roots and Soil Management: Interactions between Roots and the Soil. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, 183-197.
[27]	Olawuyi, O.J., Babatunde, F.E., Akinbode, A.O., Odebode, A.C. and Olakojo. S.A. (2011) Influence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and NPK Fertilizer on The productivity of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus). International Journal of Organic Agriculture Research and Development, 3, 22-31.
[28]	Picone, C. (2003) Managing Mycorrhizae for Sustainable Agriculture in the Tropics. In: Vandermeer, J.H., Ed., Tropical Agroecosystems. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 95-132.
[29]	Jeffries, P. (1987) Use of Mycorrhizae in Agriculture. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 5, 319-357. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/07388558709079476
[30]	Hata, S., Kobae, Y. and Bamba, M. (2010) Interactions between Plants and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi. International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology, 281, 1-48.
[31]	Olawuyi, O.J., Odebode, A.C., Olakojo, S.A. and Adesoye, A.I. (2011) Host—Parasite Relationship of Maize (Zea mays L.) and Striga lutea (lour) as Influenced by Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi. Journal of Science Research, 10, 186-198.
[32]	Miller, M.H. (2000) Arbuscular Mycorrhizae and the Phosphorus Nutrition of Maize: A Review of Guelph Studies. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 80, 47-52. http://dx.doi.org/10.4141/P98-130
[33]	Nwangburuka, C.C., Denton, O.A., Kehinde, O.B., Ojo, D.K. and Popoola. A.R. (2012) Genetic Variability and Heritability in Cultivated Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus [L.] moench). Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 10, 123-129.
[34]	Steel, R.G.D. and James, H.T. (1960) Principles and Procedures of Statistics, with Special References to Biological Sciences[by] Robert G.D. Steel [ and] James H. Torrie. McGraw-Hill, New York.
[35]	Olawuyi, O.J., Babatunde, F.E., Akinbode, O.A., Odebode, A.C. and Olakojo, S.A. (2010) Assessment of Productivity of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) as Influenced by Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (Glomus deserticola). Nigerian Journal of Mycology, 3, 55-64.
[36]	Smith, S.E., Jacobsen, I., Grunlund, M. and Smith, F.A. (2011) FA Roles of Arbuscular Mycorrhyzas in Phosphorus Nutrition: Interactions between Pathways of Phosphorus Uptake in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Roots Have Important Implications for Understanding and Manipulating Plant Phosphorus Acquisition. Plant Physiology, 156, 1050-1057. http://dx.doi.org/10.1104/pp.111.174581