Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Plant Nutrition, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Zinc is a critical mineral nutrient for plants and animals, yet soils in the Mediterranean region often have low zinc levels. Mineral fertilizers, commonly used to address this deficiency, pose environmental risks, making mycorrhizal fungi a sustainable alternative. These fungi enhance nutrient uptake, including zinc, from the soil. This study investigated the effects of Funneliformis mosseae mycorrhizal inoculation on the mycorrhizal dependency of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill), and eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) under varying zinc fertilization conditions. Seedlings were cultivated in glasshouse conditions, with sterile and non-sterile Zn-deficient calcareous soils, both with and without 6 mg Zn kg−1 application. Mycorrhizae were introduced at transplanting, and parameters such as shoot dry weight, root colonization, and shoot zinc and phosphorus concentrations were measured at harvest to calculate mycorrhizal dependency. Results revealed that under low zinc and phosphorus fertility, mycorrhizal inoculation significantly enhanced root colonization, plant biomass, and nutrient concentrations. While zinc fertilization improved tissue zinc and phosphorus concentrations, mycorrhizal inoculation alone had a greater impact, particularly in pepper plants, which displayed twice the mycorrhizal dependency of tomato and eggplant. In zinc-deficient conditions, mycorrhizal inoculation contributed up to twice as much to plant development compared to zinc fertilization alone. The study concluded that mycorrhiza inoculation could effectively replace or compensate the zinc fertilizers, providing a sustainable solution for enhancing plant growth and Zn and P uptake.