Response of aerobic rice to Piriformospora indica

Rice cultivation under aerobic condition not only saves water but also opens up a splendid scope for effective application of beneficial root symbionts in rice crop unlike conventional puddled rice cultivation where water logged condition acts as constraint for easy proliferation of various beneficial soil microorganisms like arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Keeping these in view, an in silico investigation were carried out to explore the interaction of hydrogen phosphate with phosphate transporter protein (PTP) from P. indica. This was followed by greenhouse investigation to study the response of aerobic rice to Glomusfasciculatum, a conventional P biofertilizer and P. indica, an alternative to AM fungi. Computational studies using ClustalW tool revealed several conserved motifs between the phosphate transporters from Piriformospora indica and 8 other Glomus species. The 3D model of PTP from P. indica resembling "Mayan temple" was successfully docked onto hydrogen phosphate, indicating the affinity of this protein for inorganic phosphorus. Greenhouse studies revealed inoculation of aerobic rice either with P. indica, G. fasciculatum or both significantly enhanced the plant growth, biomass and yield with higher NPK, chlorophyll and sugar compared to uninoculated ones, P. indica inoculated plants being superior. A significantly enhanced activity of acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase were noticed in the rhizosphere soil of rice plants inoculated either with P. indica, G. fasciculatum or both, contributing to higher P uptake. Further, inoculation of aerobic rice plants with P. indica proved to be a better choice as a potential biofertilizer over mycorrhiza.