Abstract:
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Objective】The study aimed to investigate the effects of endophytic fungi on root infection and growth promotion of cutting seedlings, screen plant growth-promoting strains suitable for cultivation of blueberry cutting seedlings, thereby providing a theoretical basis for improving efficiency and quality of blueberry seedling production and high-yield cultivation.【
Method】One-year-old cutting seedlings of the blueberry cultivar Legacy were used as experimental materials. After inoculating six strains of endophytic fungi to liquid media, suspensions were collected and irrigated around the roots of blueberry cutting seedlings. Six treatments were established and marked as T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, and T6, with sterile water irrigation as the control (CK) to measure and analyze differences in root infection rate and growth and physiological indexes of the blueberry cutting seedlings. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted using the membership function method.【
Result】The highest root infection rate of blueberry cutting seedlings was observed in T1, followed by T6, while T4 showed a relatively low infection rate. No significant differences in seedling height were observed among the six treatments compared to CK (
P>0.05, the same below). The ground diameter of seedling in T2 was significantly higher than that in CK (
P<0.05, the same below), while the other five treatments showed no significant differences compared to CK. T1 promoted aboveground biomass accumulation, whereas T6 enhanced underground biomass accumulation. Seedlings in T1 exhibited the best performance in total root surface area, total root volume, and tip number. T2 had the longest total root length, and T6 showed the largest average root diameter. T1 and T6 had higher total biomass and root biomass, T2 had a higher ground diameter, and their seedling quality indexes were higher than those of other treatments. T2 had the highest chlorophyll a content; T6 showed the highest chlorophyll b content and total chlorophyll content; T4 exhibited lower contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll. Seedling in T1 and T6 displayed higher electron transfer rates in leaves and stronger tolerance to intense light compared to other treatments. T6 had the highest root activity, while T4 showed the lowest. Root infection rate showed significant positive correlations with ground diameter and total root surface area, and it showed extremely significant correlations with total biomass, tip number, seedling quality index, maximum electron transfer rate, and root activity (
P<0.01). The comprehensive evaluation values ranked as T1>T6>T2>T3>T5>T4>CK.【
Conclusion】Blueberry cutting seedlings inoculated with strains No.1 (
Penicillium) and No. 6 (
Talaromyced) exhibit a significantly increased root infection rate and better growth and development. The two strains are growth-promoting resources with potential to be developed as microbial fertilizer agents for blueberry.