Full Length Research Paper

Evaluation of different densities of auxin and endophytic fungi (Piriformospora indica and Sebacina vermifera) on Mentha piperita and Thymus vulgaris growth

Hossein Kari Dolatabadi¹*, Ebrahim Mohammadi Goltapeh¹, Ahmad Moieni² and Ajit. Varma³

¹Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran.

²Department of Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran

³Amity Institute of Herbal and Microbial Studies, Sector125 New Super Highway, Noida, India.

*Corresponding author. Email: emgoltapeh@modares.ac.ir or emgoltapeh@yahoo.com

Abbreviations: PGR, Plant growth regulator; AMF, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; IAA, indole acetic acid; NAA, 1-naphthaleneacetic acid; IBA, indole-3-butyric acid.

Accepted 15 November, 2010

   Abstract

Mentha piperita and Thymus vulgaris are two important species of the family Lamiaceae. Two distinct experiments were conducted and examined; the first evaluate the effect of different auxin levels on M. piperita and T. vulgaris growth, while the second examined the effect of two fungi Piriformospora indica and Sebacina vermifera on plant height, root length, shoots and root weight in in vitro in a completely randomized design (3 and 20 replication in first and second experiments, respectively). The first experiment showed that the most effective hormone dose for the M. piperita growth was 1 mgl^-1 of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and in the T. vulgaris, it was 1 mgl^-1  of indole acetic acid (IAA). Increase of the hormone doses resulted in reduced growth. The second experiment showed that growth of the plants inoculated with fungi increased significantly. The data indicated that the plants inoculated with S. vermifera were of maximum height and the plants inoculated with P. indica had maximum weight also. The nodes of M. piperita and numbers of shoots in T. vulgaris increased significantly.

Key words: In vitro culture, auxin, peppermint, thyme, Piriformospora indica, Sebacina vermifera.