article · Biotechnology Journal International
This greenhouse study assessed whether inoculating the Ivorian plantain cultivar Affoto with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM 197198 could reduce the effects of short-term water deficit. Plants were subjected to three moisture levels: full watering, half watering, or completely withheld water for 14 days after a two-week fungal establishment period. Although microscopy verified that fungal colonisation succeeded, with root arbuscular abundance reaching up to 31.81 percent, the inoculation did not mitigate drought-induced biomass loss. Water deficit significantly reduced total dry plant biomass, tissue hydration, growth dimensions, functional leaf proportions, and chlorophyll index, while increasing leaf temperature and electrolyte leakage. Across all watering regimes, the fungal treatment had no detectable effect on total dry biomass. The findings demonstrate that under short establishment times and severe stress, this specific fungal strain provides no measurable biomass protection to this plantain cultivar.
Plantain is a staple crop vulnerable to drought. While beneficial root fungi are frequently promoted as natural biofertilisers to build drought tolerance, this research highlights that such benefits do not automatically occur. Understanding which specific plant cultivars and fungal strains actually work together prevents farmers and agricultural programmes from investing in ineffective biological treatments.
This research is early-stage greenhouse work relevant to agricultural bio-input developers and researchers screening mycorrhizal inoculants for plantain. It demonstrates that the specific Rhizophagus irregularis strain tested cannot be recommended as a commercial drought-mitigation tool for the Affoto cultivar under short-term establishment conditions, indicating that further strain selection and testing are needed before field application is viable.
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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can improve plant performance under drought, but responses depend on host genotype, fungal isolate, symbiosis duration, and stress intensity. We evaluated whether Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM 197198 mitigated short-term water deficit in the Ivorian plantain cultivar Affoto under greenhouse conditions. Plants were assigned to a 2 × 3 factorial combination of inoculation (non-mycorrhizal or R. irregularis) and water supply (100% or 50% substrate water-holding capacity [WHC] replenished daily, or water withheld) for 14 days after a 14-day establishment period. Growth, organ water content, electrolyte leakage, chlorophyll index, leaf temperature, functional leaves, root colonization, and substrate spore density were quantified. Positive continuous responses were analyzed using log-linear models and heteroscedasticity-robust Type III tests; bounded responses were analyzed using beta or quasibinomial models. Water supply strongly affected total dry biomass (F2,36 = 34.44, P < 0.001), whereas inoculation (P = 0.789) and the inoculation × water-supply interaction (P = 0.946) did not. Mean total dry biomass declined from 104.73 g at 100% WHC to 70.58 g at 50% WHC and 36.02 g when water was withheld. Mycorrhizal growth responses were 2.7%, -4.1%, and -0.4%, respectively, and all 95% bootstrap confidence intervals included zero. AMF mitigation ratios were 0.935 (95% CI 0.627-1.422) at 50% WHC and 0.970 (0.626-1.572) under water withholding. Microscopy confirmed hyphae, vesicles, and arbuscules in inoculated roots, and none in controls; arbuscular abundance across the root system ranged from 24.92% to 31.81%. Thus, fungal establishment occurred, but inoculation did not detectably alter drought-associated biomass loss. Water deficit also reduced tissue hydration, growth dimensions, SPAD, and functional leaf proportion while increasing electrolyte leakage and leaf temperature. For the tested cultivar-isolate combination, following a short establishment period and under severe combined soil-water and atmospheric stress, R. irregularis conferred no detectable mitigation of biomass.
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DOI: 10.9734/bji/2026/v30i5900
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