Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Isolated from Highly Saline “Sabkha Habitat” Soil Alleviated the NaCl-Induced Stress and Improved Lasiurus scindicus Henr. Growth

Salt stress is one of the most significant abiotic stresses that substantially negatively impact plant growth and productivity. However, a slew of research thus far has investigated the ameliorating properties of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis and their potential to improve plant tolerance to salt stress. The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the role of mycorrhizal inocula obtained from Sabkha (S-AMF) and non-Sabkha (NS-AMF) habitats of Saudi Arabia on the morphological, physiological, and biochemical behaviors of the Lasiurus scindicus plant. For this reason, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) isolated from Sabkha and non-Sabkha soils were treated with salinity-exposed L. scindicus. The results revealed that the AMF-treated plants had higher growth metrics and increased synthesis of photosynthetic pigments, which were reduced by salt stress. Furthermore, the application of AM symbiosis induced an increase in the activities of the antioxidant system, which resulted in a reduction of the plant oxidative damage. It was also found that the increased accumulation of proline and phenols acted as a protective measure. Moreover, plants inoculated with S-AMF had the highest ameliorating responses on all the studied parameters compared to NS-AMF. This could be attributed to the presence of habitat-specific AMF, which may have induced adaptive plasticity in plants to tolerate or resist extreme salinity. However, further study in exploring the S-AMF diversity is needed to make it an ecofriendly choice for the restoration of salinity-affected ecosystems.