Abstract
The rapid increase in global population and industrial pollution pose severe environmental threats to
agriculture that are exacerbated by salt stress. Molecular characterization of new fungal isolates and
assessment of their impact on agriculture might be an eco-friendly approach to modulating salt tolerance.
Herein, fungal seed biopriming was conducted on salt (NaCl) stressed maize in a dose-dependent manner.
Genetic lineages of fungi were identified using well-known fungal ITS (internal transcribed spacer) barcodes
that revealed similarity to the Trichoderma citrinoviride (T11C) species. Fv/Fm, ETR and qP were recorded as
close to optimum in bioprimed maize plants after application of salt stress. NPQ (nonphotochemical quenching)
decreased slightly in respective groups. Higher photosynthetic pigment contents were also detected. T11C
seed biopriming decreased the lipid oxidation remarkably under salt stress. SOD, GPX, GR and CAT activities
were not found to be significantly induced in the roots or leaves of T11C after biopriming. However, higher
RWC (relative water content), soluble protein and proline were measured in bioprimed test groups treated
with high salt stress, demonstrating increased osmoregulatory capacity. Our ongoing research is directed
toward developing powdered fungal biopreperations to assay multiple stress tolerances in agriculture for agroeconomically
important cereals such as maize.