Due to its contribution to plant drought tolerance, arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) may play an important role in the revegetation of degraded pastures in semi-arid and arid regions. Salsola laricina, an important forage plant in Iran, belongs to predominantly non-mycotrophic Chenopodiaceae, but field observations suggest that it forms functional mycorrhizae. We therefore, established a greenhouse experiment to test the mycorrhizal response of this species at four levels of soil moisture and to determine the contribution of AM to the drought tolerance of this species. The plants were grown in sterilized soil and either left non-inoculated or inoculated with four AM fungal isolates originating from an S. laricina field site to investigate also the functional variability of sympatric AM fungal species. Root colonization of S. laricina by AM fungi was found in all the inoculated treatments, and mycorrhizae clearly improved the plants' growth and P uptake. The mycorrhizal responses, i.e., the differences between mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants, were most pronounced at the lowest soil moisture level of 25% field capacity, which strongly suggests that mycorrhiza contributes to the drought tolerance of S. laricina. Differential effects of the four inoculated AM fungal isolates, independent of their root colonization levels, indicate differential compatibility of the isolates with this host plant species. The findings of the study have important implications for the revegetation of degraded pastures with S. laricina, as they show that AM should be considered in this process.

由于其对植物抗旱性的贡献，丛枝菌根（AM）可能在半干旱和干旱地区退化草地的植被恢复中起重要作用。Salsola laricina是伊朗重要的牧草植物，主要​​属于非分枝营养的藜科，但实地观察表明它形成了功能菌根。因此，我们建立了一个温室实验，以测试该物种在土壤水分的四个水平上的菌根反应，并确定AM对该物种的耐旱性的贡献。使植物在无菌土壤中生长，并使其不接种或用源自S. laricina的四种AM真菌分离株接种现场调查同胞AM真菌物种的功能变异性。在所有接种的处理中均发现AM真菌对S. laricina的根定植，并且菌根明显改善了植物的生长和P吸收。在最低土壤水分水平（田间持水量为25％）下，菌根反应（即菌根植物和非菌根植物之间的差异）最为明显，这强烈表明菌根有助于沙门氏菌的耐旱性。。四种接种的AM真菌分离株的不同作用，与它们的根定殖水平无关，表明分离株与该寄主植物物种的不同相容性。这项研究的发现对退化草场中链球菌的再植被具有重要意义，因为他们表明在此过程中应考虑增材制造。