Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2026, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (3): 742-759.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2025.0260  cstr: 32100.14.cjpe.2025.0260

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Response mechanisms of growth and rhizosphere soil properties in salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive peanut (Arachis hypogaea) to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

QIN Fei-Fei1, TANG Zhao-Hui2, SI Tong3, CI Dun-Wei1,*()   

  1. 1 Shandong Peanut Research Institute, Qingdao, Shandong 266100, China
    2 Institute of Crop Germplasm Resources, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan 250100, China
    3 College of Agronomy, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong 266109, China
  • Received:2025-07-11 Accepted:2025-10-17 Online:2026-03-20 Published:2026-05-19
  • Contact: CI Dun-Wei
  • Supported by:
    Key R&D Program of Shandong Province(2024TZXD0057);National Natural Science Foundation of China(31771732)

Abstract:

Aims Saline alkali land is an important reality and potential agricultural resource to solve the shortage of arable land in China. Efficient utilization of saline alkali land resources to develop peanut (Arachis hypogaea) planting in such environments and achieve high and stable yield has become an urgent demand for ensuring peanut production. Under saline alkali stress habitat, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can effectively develop potential productivity of host plants and improve their salt resistance and tolerance. Although it has been demonstrated that AMF enhanced peanut salt tolerance under salt stress, however, there have been limited reports on the effects of AMF on the growth and development of salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive peanut.

Methods This study was investigated the response mechanisms of peanut growth and rhizosphere soil environment to AMF under saline-alkali conditions, aiming to provide theoretical basis and technical support for AMF application in peanut production in saline alkali soils. The experiment used salt-tolerant cultivar ‘HY25’ and salt-sensitive cultivar ‘HY22’ as experimental materials, with AMF seed coating treatment applied under saline alkali and normal soil conditions.

Important findings Under two soil conditions, salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive peanut cultivars demonstrated differential response mechanisms to AMF inoculation. Under both soil environments, AMF improved the agronomic characteristics in ‘HY25’, optimized photosynthetic parameters, and significantly increased pod yield. While AMF exhibited partial inhibitory effects on agronomic traits in ‘HY22’ in normal soil, it notably improved leaf photosynthetic performance and elevated both pod yield and quality. Significant differences were found in the response of root growth of two cultivars to AMF including: 1) In normal soil, the promoting effect of AMF on the growth of ‘HY25’ root system initiated during the flowering-pegging stage and continued to until maturation stage. Under saline-alkaline soil, AMF significantly increased total root length, root surface area, and root volume in ‘HY25’ at pod-setting stage. 2) Salt-sensitive cultivar ‘HY22’ exhibited greater sensitive to AMF inoculation. Under both normal and saline-alkali soils, AMF demonstrated inhibitory effects on root growth in ‘HY22’ during flowering-pegging and/or pod-setting stages, with significantly stronger inhibition observed under saline-alkali soil than normal soil. Moreover, AMF effects on rhizosphere soil properties included: 1) significant elevation in available phosphorus contents in both cultivars under two soil conditions; 2) increased soil catalase, phosphatase, and invertase activities in both cultivars in saline alkali soil; whereas 3) significant inhibition of soil enzymatic activities in ‘HY22’ under normal soil. These results indicated that compared to salt-sensitive cultivar, salt-tolerant cultivar might serve as more efficient symbiotic partner for AMF. AMF might demonstrate superior growth promotion in salt-tolerant cultivar, effectively exerting the synergistic effect of microbial regulation under saline-alkali soil.

Key words: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, root development, photosynthesis, soil enzyme activity, soil nutrients