title: Physiological and growth response of rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) to Trichoderma spp. inoculants.
abstract: Trichoderma spp., a known beneficial fungus is reported to have several mechanisms to enhance plant growth. In this study, the effectiveness of seven isolates of Trichoderma spp. to promote growth and increase physiological performance in rice was evaluated experimentally using completely randomized design under greenhouse condition. This study indicated that all the Trichoderma spp. isolates tested were able to increase several rice physiological processes which include net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration, internal CO2 concentration and water use efficiency. These Trichoderma spp. isolates were also able to enhance rice growth components including plant height, leaf number, tiller number, root length and root fresh weight. Among the Trichoderma spp. isolates, Trichoderma sp. SL2 inoculated rice plants exhibited greater net photosynthetic rate (8.66 μmolCO2 m(-2) s(-1)), internal CO2 concentration (336.97 ppm), water use efficiency (1.15 μmoCO2/mmoH2O), plant height (70.47 cm), tiller number (12), root length (22.5 cm) and root fresh weight (15.21 g) compared to the plants treated with other Trichoderma isolates tested. We conclude that beneficial fungi can be used as a potential growth promoting agent in rice cultivation.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, DE, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Febri
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Doni
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Natural Resources Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, DE, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Anizan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Isahak
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, DE, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Che Radziah
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Che Mohd Zain
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, DE, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Wan Mohtar
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Wan Yusoff
keywords: Growth response; Physiological response; Rice; Trichoderma spp