Morpho-physiological responses of two cultivars of german chamomile (Matricaria ‎chamomilla)‎‏ ‏to mycorrhiza application under water deficiet stress ‎

In order to investigate some characteristics of German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) under water stress and application of  mycorrhizal, an experiment was performed in factorial arrangement within a completely randomized design with four replications in research greenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture at Yasouj University. The first factor was osmotic potential at three levels (zero, -4 and -8 bar), the second factor was the application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae at two levels (with and without the use of fungi) and the third factor was cultivars at two levels (Bodegold and Soroksari). The studied traits included: (relative water content, soluble sugars, proline content, total chlorophyll, plant height, number of flowers per plant, Shoot dry weight, dry weight of flowers and harvest index). The results showed that osmotic potential at -4 and -8 bar caused a significant reduction in traits such as total chlorophyll, relative water content, plant height, number of flowers per plant, dry weight of shoot, dry weight of flowers and index harvested, but the amount of soluble sugars in the leaves and the content of proline increased. Mycorrhizal application increased the amount of these traits. Also, inoculation of mycorrhiza plants under drought stress conditions significantly increased proline content and soluble sugars of both cultivars. The results showed that the key trait of flower yield and yield components under drought stress and application of mycorrhiza in Soroxari cultivar showed more increase than Budgold cultivar. In general, application of mycorrhiza in both cultivars increased drought stress resistance in German chamomile.