Mitigation of drought stress and suppression of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) through fungal endophyte inoculation

Misbah Ali, Safdar Ali, Muhammad Kamran, Amer Habib, Imran Khan

Abstract


Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) productivity is severely constrained by drought stress, which also intensifies susceptibility to insect pests and viral diseases. Endophytic fungi have emerged as potential bio-stimulants that enhance plant resilience under such combined stresses. The present study evaluated the effect of five fungal endophytes viz., Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, Gigaspora rosea, Glomus mosseae, Piriformospora indica, and Trichoderma viride on growth, yield, and stress-related parameters of two tomato varieties (Nadir and Naqeeb) under drought conditions. Results revealed that all endophyte treatments significantly improved plant performance compared with the untreated control. Among them, C. lindemuthianum consistently showed the strongest effects across all measured traits. It markedly reduced disease severity and whitefly infestation while simultaneously enhancing vegetative growth, including root length (8.76 cm in Nadir and 5.23 cm in Naqeeb), shoot length (up to 63.40 cm), number of leaves (up to 50.11 per plant), and number of branches (up to 12.20 per plant). Similarly, reproductive performance improved substantially, with the highest fruit yield recorded in C. lindemuthianum-treated plants (10.07 fruits per plant in Nadir and 8.22 in Naqeeb), whereas control plants showed the lowest values. Comparatively, G. rosea, G. mosseae, P. indica, and T. viride also contributed positively but to a lesser extent. Overall, the Nadir variety exhibited superior performance across all parameters, indicating higher responsiveness to endophytic associations under drought stress. It is concluded that, fungal endophytes, especially C. lindemuthianum, enhance drought tolerance, reduce pest infestation, and improve tomato growth and yield, highlighting their potential as sustainable bioinoculants for crop management under water-limited conditions.


Keywords


Fungal endophytes, Drought tolerance, TYLCV suppression, Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Plant-microbe interaction

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.33804/pp.010.02.6050

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