Mutualistic Interaction of Piriformospora indica (Serendipita indica) with Aloe vera, the Wonder Plant for Modern Living

Aloe vera, a short-stemmed shrub is described as a “wonder plant”, due to its vast uses in various medical products. Since many decades, extensive research has revealed that the pharmacological active ingredients are distributed in both the gel and rind of the Aloe vera leaves. A. vera is very popular in cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries and it is needed in large quantities with higher fractions of important constituents. To satisfy the market demand, intervention of microbial community seems to be a promising approach, which helps to increase the growth and metabolites along with plant fitness. Piriformospora indica is a root colonizing endophytic fungus, having unique plant growth-promoting properties. It helps the plant to acquire more nutrients from soil even under extreme physical and nutrient stress conditions. It interacts with a wide range of hosts. Interaction of P. indica with A. vera resulted in overall increase in plant biomass and greater shoot and root length, as well as number of shoots and roots as compared to control under both in vitro and in vivo environment conditions. Apart from that, the photosynthetic pigments (Chl a, Chl b and total Chl) and aloin content were observed significantly higher in A. vera plantlets colonized with symbiotic endophyte. The antioxidant activities were also tested and found significantly higher as compared to control plants. This imparts the potential of P. indica, to resist the plants against phyto-pathogenic microbes. P. indica has been proved as a potential candidate to enhance the biomass production along with various value additions in the form of active ingredients in A. vera.