Synergistic effect of Glomus mosseae and nitrogen fixing Bacillus subtilis strain Daz26 on artemisinin content in Artemisia annua L.

Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae) is an important medicinal plant whose secondary metabolite artemisinin is used for the treatment of cerebral malaria. A study was undertaken to determine the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, Glomus mosseae, Glomus aggregatum, Glomus fasciculatum, Glomus intraradices and two free living nitrogen fixing bacteria (NFB) (identified as Bacillus sub fills and Stenotrophomonas spp. through 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis), inoculated alone or in combinations on the biomass, nutrient uptake, and content of artemisinin in A. annua under glass house conditions. Various parameters like plant height, total plant biomass, NPK content, leaf yield, mycorrhizal colonization, bacterial population in rhizosphere, phosphatase activity and artemisinin content were determined and found to vary with different treatments. Among all the treatments, plants inoculated with G. mosseae + B. subtilis performed better than any other treatment or uninoculated control plants. The results of the experiment clearly indicated the compatibility and synergy between G. mosseae and B. subtilis and suggested the use of this microbial consortium in A. minim for enhancing growth, biomass yield, and the content and yield of artemisinin. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.