ABSTRACT
Rice is one of the most important food crops drastically affected by drought in lowland rice ecosystems. In the present study, the impact of drought tolerant isolates of endophytic fungus Trichoderma harzianum on rice response to drought was investigated. Out of 43 Trichoderma isolates studied, only five isolates viz., Th 56, Th 69, Th 75, Th 82 and Th 89 were selected to be drought tolerant as these were able to colonize well on cow dung at low moisture content of 10-20 percent, though two isolates, Th 56 and Th 75, grew even at 5 percent moisture content. Trichoderma-colonized rice seedlings were slower to wilt in response to drought. Colonization delayed drought induced changes like stomatal conductance, net photosynthesis and leaf greenness. Drought conditions varying from 3 to 9 days of withholding water led to an increase in the concentration of many stress induced metabolites in rice leaves and decrease of MSI, while Trichoderma colonization caused a decrease in proline, MDA and H2O2 contents, and increase in phenolics concentration and MSI. Among test isolates, Th 56 induced maximum drought tolerance as treated plants recorded only 20-40 percent wilting even at 9 DDS. With or without exposure to drought, colonization by Trichoderma promoted seedling growth, with Th 56 giving the most consistent effect. The primary direct effect of Trichoderma colonization was promotion of root growth, regardless of water status, which caused delay in the drought responses of rice plants.
