فرهاد بهتاش

Root mycorrhizal inoculation can enhance uptake of nutrients such as phosphorus and zinc. Zinc as a micro-nutrient plays important roles in several biochemical functions in plants. In order to investigate the effect of inoculation with endophytic fungus P. indica and zinc application on uptake of nutrients in lettuce (lactuca sativa. cv. Syaho) plants, a completely randomized experiment with three replications was conducted under greenhouse conditions. The experimental treatments included inoculation with P. indica and different levels of zinc (0, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg L-1). Results from analysis of variance revealed that the effect of P. indica and zinc application on the uptake of Fe (P≤0.01) and Zn (P≤0.05) were significant. The highest leaf Zn (259.8 μg g -1 DW) and maximum leaf Fe (325.3 μg g-1 DW) concentrations were obtained in the presence of P. indica at 10 mg L-1 Zn and in the presence of P. indica under 0 mg L-1 Zn. In general, inoculation by P. indica resulted in the enrichment of essential elements in lettuce plants via increasing the uptake of Zn and Fe.