Induction of water stress tolerance of mustard plants using Trichoderma as biological seed treatment

Water scarcity is one of the main consequences of changing climate which adversely affects the plant growth and productivity. Enhanced root development results in increased surface area of active absorption for water and nutrient uptake which helps in tolerating abiotic stresses including drought in plants. Trichoderma is well known for its biocontrol and growth promontory effect in plants in addition to alleviate abiotic stress. In our study, thirty isolates of Trichoderma were grown on sterilized cow dung at different moisture content ranges from 5 to 30 percent to investigate their ability to grow and multiply under water stress condition. Mustard plants were grown under glass house condition by treating seeds with selected isolates of Trichoderma subjected to water stress subsequently. All isolates of Trichoderma grew upto 20% moisture whereas only eleven isolates exhibited growth at 10% moisture. Isolate PB23 was only isolate which was able to grow and resulted in 1.0 x109 cfu/g air dried cow dung even at 5% moisture content and induced the tolerance of mustard plants under water stress conditions when applied as seed treatment before sowing.