Effect of environmentally sustainable microbial fertilizer on Insect-induced plant responses

Application of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (VAM) is well known as an environmentally sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers. However, its efficacy in fortifying plants against damage is still not known. We studied the effect of damage mechanically or by generalist caterpillar, Tobacco cutworm (Spodoptera litura), on soybean (Glycine max) was grown in soil containing VAM. Changes in chlorophyll, carotenoids, phenol and tannin were compared. We found that VAM not only facilitated improvement in growth parameters of soybean, but aided the increase in primary and secondary metabolites following damage. Thus, VAM may prove to be a promising environmentally-sustainable fertilizer in fields.