The use of Pisolithus albus found in saline areas to improve the growth of Eucalyptus seedlings under high salinity conditions

ABSTRACT

Salinity is an abiotic factor limiting plant fitness and therefore forest crop productivity, and salt-affected areas have been expanding throughout the world. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi can improve the salt tolerance of woody plants, including Eucalyptus species To screen for salt-resistant Pisolithus albus (PA) isolates, 16 PA isolates were cultivated on modified Melin-Norkrans agar containing NaCl at concentrations of 0, 10, 20, and 30 dS m⁻¹. The P. albus isolate PA33 had the greatest salt resistance under 10 and 20 dS m⁻¹ NaCl, which are soil salinity levels in salt-affected areas of Thailand. We studied the effect of PA33 on Eucalyptus camaldulensis × E. pellita cuttings under salt stress (0 and 16 dS m⁻¹) for 1 month. PA enhanced the growth of the Eucalyptus seedlings, as indicated by higher relative growth rates in height and root collar diameter of inoculated seedlings compared with non-inoculated seedlings. Moreover, the inoculated seedlings had less cell damage from NaCl, as indicated by significantly lesser leaf thickness and electrolyte leakage than the controls. These findings could lead to practices conferring socioeconomic and environmental benefits, as abandoned salt-affected areas could be reclaimed using such Eucalyptus seedlings inoculated with salt-tolerant ECM fungi.

KEYWORDS:

• Eucalyptus camaldulensis × E. pellita
• Pisolithus albus
• salinity

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study would not have been possible without the assistance of Phoenix Pulp & Paper Public Company Limited for providing Eucalyptus cutting clone H38.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data presented in this study are available within the article. Data for Pisolithus albus raw sequence reads are available in a publicly available repository (NCBI) under the accession numbers OQ053230–OQ053241 and OQ034133–OQ034138. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2024.2360607

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute, KURDI, Kasetsart University, and partially funded by the National Research Council of Thailand through the Knowledge Hub for Integrated Economic Trees: Plantation Establishment, Management, Utilization and Industry.