Effect of bioinoculants on morphological and biochemical parameters of Zinnia elegans Jacq.

The dominant AMF Glomus mosseae (G) and Acaulospora laevis (A) were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of Z. elegans Jacq. and mass produced in laboratory for further studies. A pot experiment was performed to see the interactive potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (G. mosseae and A. laevis) alone or in combination with Trichoderma viride (T) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (P) on Z. elegans under glass house conditions. The experiment were conducted in a factorial arrangement based completely randomized design with five replicates. Various morphological (plant height, shoot biomass, root biomass, root length, leaf area, flower number, diameter) and biochemical attributes (chlorophyll, carotenoids, flower anthocyanin content, P content, total sugar, starch and protein content) were measured after 60 days. The results indicated a variation in growth response of Z. elegans with different treatments. AMF alone or in combination helped in increasing the different parameters of Z. elegans. The combination of G+A showed maximum increase of growth parameters followed by G+T and G+A+P. Consortium inoculation of bioinoculants plants with G+A+T+P treatment proved to be the best treatment for total proteins and total chlorophyll content while flower anthocyanin content was best in G+A treatment. AMF promotes higher AM colonization and spore number enhancing nutrient acquisition especially phosphorus, producing plant growth hormones resulting in an improvement of rhizospheric condition of soil, altering the physiological and biochemical properties of Z. elegans. Based on different parameters studied, G. mosseae was found to be an efficient bioinoculant as compared to A. laevis for growth enhancement of Z. elegans.