Abstract
The current study was taken up to examine the role of bioagent (Trichoderma hamatum) in mitigating the deleterious effects of NaCl stress in Ochradenus baccatus. Varying concentrations of salt (0, 75, and 150 mM) were used to observe the effect on growth, pigments, some key metabolic attributes, antioxidant enzymes, and elemental accumulation in O. baccatus. The results indicated significant decrease in seed germination, plant growth, pigment content, membrane stability index, tissue water content, and total lipid content with salt stress. Lipid peroxidation increases with the increasing concentration of NaCl. Moreover, salinity stimulated the biosynthesis of phenols, diacylglycerol, sterol esters, nonesterified fatty acids, and enzymatic antioxidants like superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase. The Na
+
content in shoot increases with elevated levels of NaCl concentration, accompanied with significant decreases in K
+
, Mg
2+
, and Ca
2+
. Application of bioagent (T. hamatum) has been observed to alleviate the antagonistic effect of salt stress on plant growth and metabolic processes. In absence and presence of salt stress, the bioagent stimulated the plant growth and alter the plant metabolism through the modification of the above parameters.