Salt-affected soils are a major problem worldwide for crop production. Bioinocula such as plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can help plants to thrive in these areas but interactions between them and with soil conditions can modulate the effects on their host. To test potential synergistic effects of bioinoculants with intrinsically different functional relationships with their host in buffering the effect of saline stress, maize plants were grown under increasing soil salinity (0-5 g NaCl kg--1 soil) and inoculated with two PGPB strains (Pseudomonas reactans EDP28, and Pantoea alli ZS 3-6), one AMF (Rhizoglomus irregulare), and with the combination of both. We then modelled biomass, ion and nutrient content in maize plants in response to increasing salt concentration and microbial inoculant treatments using generalized linear models. The impacts of the different treatments on the rhizosphere bacterial communities were also analyzed. Microbial inoculants tended to mitigate ion imbalances in plants across the gradient of NaCl, promoting maize growth and nutritional status. These effects were mostly prominent in the treatments comprising the dual inoculation (AMF and PGPB), occurring throughout the gradient of salinity in the soil. The composition of bacterial communities of the soil was not affected by microbial treatments and were mainly driven by salt exposure. The tested bioinocula are most efficient for maize growth and health when co-inoculated, increasing the content of K+ accompanied by an effective decrease of Na+ in plant tissues. Moreover, synergistic effects potentially contribute to expanding crop production to otherwise unproductive soils. Results suggest that the combination of AMF and PGPB leads to interactions that may have a potential role in alleviating the stress and improve crop productivity in salt-affected soils.

中文翻译：

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在土壤盐分增加的情况下，丛枝菌根真菌和植物生长细菌的协同作用有利于玉米生长。

受盐影响的土壤是全世界农作物生产的主要问题。诸如植物生长细菌（PGPB）和丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）之类的生物菌群可以帮助植物在这些区域中繁衍生息，但是它们之间的相互作用以及与土壤条件的相互作用可以调节对宿主的影响。为了测试与寄主具有本质不同功能关系的生物育种剂在缓解盐胁迫影响方面的潜在协同作用，玉米种植在土壤盐分增加（0-5 g NaCl kg--1土壤）下种植，并接种了两种PGPB菌株（反应假单胞菌EDP28和泛菌ZS 3-6），一种AMF（不规则根瘤菌）以及两者的组合。然后，我们对生物质进行了建模，使用广义线性模型，随着盐浓度的增加和微生物接种剂的处理，玉米植株中的离子和养分含量增加。还分析了不同处理对根际细菌群落的影响。微生物孕育剂倾向于缓解植物在NaCl梯度中的离子失衡，从而促进玉米的生长和营养状况。在包括土壤中盐度梯度的双重接种（AMF和PGPB）的处理中，这些效应最为突出。土壤细菌群落的组成不受微生物处理的影响，并且主要受盐暴露的驱动。共同接种时，经过测试的生物菌落对于玉米生长和健康最有效，增加K +的含量，同时有效减少植物组织中的Na +。此外，协同效应可能有助于将农作物的生产扩大到原本非生产性的土壤上。结果表明，AMF和PGPB的组合可导致相互作用，这些相互作用可能在缓解盐分影响的土壤中减轻胁迫和提高农作物生产力方面具有潜在作用。