Enhancing drought tolerance in Malva parviflora plants through metabolic and genetic modulation using Beauveria bassiana inoculation

• Published in: BMC plant biology Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 1 - 22
• Main Authors: Abdelhameed, Reda E, Soliman, Elham R. S, Gahin, Hanan, Metwally, Rabab A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 11.07.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Analysis; Antioxidants; Ascorbic acid; Beauveria bassiana; Drought; Drought resistance; Droughts; Egypt; Environmental aspects; Enzymatic activity; Enzymes; Food security; Fungal diseases of plants; Genetic diversity; Genetic variation; Genome stability; Genomics; Gibberellic acid; Gibberellins; Health aspects; Hormones; Hydrogen peroxide; Inoculation; Irrigation water; Leaves; Lipoxygenase; Malva parviflora; Metabolism; Metabolites; Microorganisms; Morphology; Nucleotide sequence; Nutrients; Nutritional status; Nutritive value; Oxidative stress; Physiological aspects; Physiological effects; Physiology; Plant growth; Plant heat tolerance; Plant metabolites; Plant resistance; Plants (botany); Prevention; Proline; Risk factors; Secondary metabolism; Secondary metabolites; Water; Water shortages; Egypt
• ISSN: 1471-2229; 1471-2229
• DOI: 10.1186/s12870-024-05340-w

Enhancing crops' drought resilience is necessary to maintain productivity levels. Plants interact synergistically with microorganisms like Beauveria bassiana to improve drought tolerance. Therefore, the current study investigates the effects of biopriming with B. bassiana on drought tolerance in Malva parviflora plants grown under regular irrigation (90% water holding capacity (WHC)), mild (60% WHC), and severe drought stress (30% WHC). The results showed that drought stress reduced the growth and physiological attributes of M. parviflora. However, those bioprimed with B. bassiana showed higher drought tolerance and enhanced growth, physiological, and biochemical parameters: drought stress enriched malondialdehyde and H.sub.2O.sub.2 contents. Conversely, exposure to B. bassiana reduced stress markers and significantly increased proline and ascorbic acid content under severe drought stress; it enhanced gibberellic acid and reduced ethylene. Bioprimed M. parviflora, under drought conditions, improved antioxidant enzymatic activity and the plant's nutritional status. Besides, ten Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat primers detected a 25% genetic variation between treatments. Genomic DNA template stability (GTS) decreased slightly and was more noticeable in response to drought stress; however, for drought-stressed plants, biopriming with B. bassiana retained the GTS. Under drought conditions, biopriming with B. bassiana enhanced Malva's growth and nutritional value. This could attenuate photosynthetic alterations, up-regulate secondary metabolites, activate the antioxidant system, and maintain genome integrity.