Friendly soil fungi help corn shrug off drought stress
Mycorrhizal Networks
If you've ever watched tomato or squash plants wilt during a dry spell, this points to a low-cost trick, root-friendly fungi, that could help garden crops cope with less water.
Scientists tested corn plants grown with and without a natural soil fungus that partners with roots, then compared how they handled different amounts of water. Plants paired with the fungus grew taller, made more and bigger ears of corn, stayed greener, and showed fewer signs of stress even when watered less. The fungus seems to help roots pull in more water and nutrients, acting like a built-in insurance policy against dry spells.
Key Findings
Full irrigation combined with G. mosseae inoculation produced the tallest plants (251.93 cm) versus the shortest (205.07 cm) under 50% water with no fungi
G. mosseae boosted cob length, grain number per row, and seed weight most under full irrigation, while G. fasciculatum maximized cob count per plant
Mycorrhizal inoculation raised leaf water content and chlorophyll levels while lowering proline (a stress marker), showing improved drought tolerance
chevron_right Technical Summary
Inoculating corn seeds with beneficial fungi called mycorrhizae helped the plants grow taller, produce more grain, and handle drought better by boosting water uptake and reducing stress hormones. The best results came from combining full watering with the fungi, but even under water restriction, the fungi-treated plants outperformed untreated ones.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Effect of two species of mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus mosseae and G. fasciculatum) on agronomic and physiological traits of hybrid maize (single cross 704) under drought stress
IntroductionMaize (Zea mays L.) is a crucial cereal crop worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions, valued for its high nutritional content and diverse uses. Drought stress is a m...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Maize, also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern ...