THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI AND SALICYLIC ACID AGAINST VERTICILLIUM DAHLIAE INFECTING PEPPER (CAPSICUM ANNUUM L.)

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This study was carried out to determine the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and salicylic acid (SA) on plant growth parameters and severity of wilt disease caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb. in pepper.Effects of two different AMFs (Commercial AMF and Glomus intraradices) and two different SA doses (0.5 and 1 mM) were compared with untreated control plants after ten weeks.Both AMF species caused 62.08% and 69.07%root colonization, and the mycorrhizal dependency ratio changed from 9.08% to 59.37% in pepper plants.Commercial AMF caused a significant increase in morphological growth parameters, root colonization, mycorrhizal dependency rates and suppression of the disease severity.SA (1 mM) resulted in improved morphological growth parameters and suppression of the severity of the disease.Besides, SA and AMF applications were found to suppress the severity of Verticillium wilt disease by 21.8% and 56% in pepper plants, respectively.Thus, the applications of SA and AMF had positive contributions to the pepper plant's morphological development.