Endophytic Fungi from Salt Adapted Plants Confer Salt Tolerance in Barley

Endophytic fungi are known to improve plant tolerance under stressful conditions including salt stress. Considering this, the endophytic fungi, Alternaria chlamydospora, Embellisia phragmospora, Phomabetae, Chaetomium coarctatum, Fusarium equiseti and Fusarium graminearum, was isolated from roots of plants growing in salt environments and then, evaluated for their contribution in conferring salt stress tolerance in barley plants. The influence of inoculation with endophytic fungi, on germination, root and shoot lengths of barley seeds under different NaCl levels (0, 200, 300 and 400 mM) was investigated. Results showed that seed germination and root and shoot lengths were higher in seeds pretreated with endophytic fungi cultures than their controls under saline conditions. This study suggests that the tested endophytic fungi might be applied as a strategy for mitigating the stress-imposed salt in plants and, therefore, improving crop growth and productivity.