! " # $ %& " & " ’ ! " # $ $ % " " & ’( ’( ) * (+ ,,- .+ (+ ! /$/ 0 1 2,,, 3 40 5 67 8+// ()*+,-* The present study was conducted to assess the effect of different concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl) in presence and absence of AMF on growth, physiobiochemical and enzymatic activity in faba bean (9 ). Different concentrations of NaCl showed reduction in growth and yield parameters, which indicates the deleterious effects of salinity on the plant. The total spore count and colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is also decreasing at higher concentrations of NaCl. Application of AMF mitigates the effect of NaCl stress and improved the growth and yield in the present study. NaCl also decreased the nodulation as well as nodule activity and pigments content, however the supplementation of by AMF to plants treated with sodium chloride showed enhancement in nodule activity and pigment content. Polyamines (Putresciene, Spermidine, Spermine), acid and alkaline phosphates increased with increasing concentration of sodium chloride and application of by AMF showed further increase in the above phytoconstituents, proving the protective role of these phytoconstituents against salt stress. Salinity stress is responsible for the generation of reactive oxygen species, which lead to the membrane damage through lipid peroxidation in the present study. Maximum lipid peroxidation was observed at higher concentration of sodium chloride and AMF treatment minimized the effect of salinity on lipid peroxidation. To combat with the reactive oxygen species, plants upregulate the enzymatic antioxidants like superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase. As the concentration of sodium chloride increases the enzyme activity also increases and further increase was observed with supplementation of AMF to salt treated plants. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi also restores the potassium and calcium contents and maintain their ratio that was hampered with increasing concentration of sodium chloride in the present study. In conclusion, application of AMF could alleviate the negative effect of sodium chloride and can be used as a suitable approach for the salt affected soils. ./012+3) Salt stress; 9 ; growth, pigments; nodulation; polyamines; lipid peroxidation; enzymatic activity; elemental uptake. 4*+235-*624 In developed and developing countries the intensive use of agricultural practices has led to the degradation of farming land and water supplies (Flowers, 2004) At one hand farming land is degrading and on the other hand the world population is increasing and is expected to be 8.5 billion over the next 25 years. Salinity greatly affected the crop production and has become a major threat to feed the population in near future (Anon, 2010). Saline soil with soluble salts affects plant growth, development and ultimately affects the yield. Salinity not only reduces yield of crops but also disrupts the ecological balance of the area (Aggarwal ., 2012; Alqarawi ., 2014a). Salinity stress lead to low osmotic potential of the soil solution, nutritional imbalance, specific ion effect or combination of all these factors hampers the metabolic activity of the plant (Alqarawi ., 2014b). All the major biochemical reactions related to photosynthesis, protein synthesis etc. are affected by salinity stress (Ahmad ., 2014). The morphological and yield parameters are affected by the increasing concentration of salt content in soil. Osmotic stress is a primary stress caused due to the excess of Na + and Cl . Salinity is also responsible for secondary stress known as oxidative stress and is caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Ahmad ., 2010). During oxidative stress, electrons that have highenergy state are transferred to molecular oxygen (O 2 ) to form reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Mittler, 2002). ROS, such as singlet oxygen ( 1 O), superoxide ions (O 2− ) and peroxides, the most widely distributed being hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) very much toxic to biomolecules like membrane lipids, DNA/RNA, proteins etc. (Apel & Hirt, 2004; Triantaphylidès ., 2008). Oxidative stress is resulted when generation of ROS exceeds the scavenging nature of antioxidants. The toxic effects of ROS are counteracted by enzymatic antioxidants like, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). These antioxidants quench the ROS and protects the macromolecules from damage. Normally, each cellular compartment contains more than one enzymatic activity that detoxifies a particular ROS. Faba bean (9 L.) is an important leguminous crop and is cultivated in maximum parts of the world for human consumption. Cultivation of faba bean has been reported to increase the soil nitrogen compounds to a greater level (Hungria & Vargas, 2000). Being a good source of protein, it becomes the interest of many plant scientists to increase its production especially on marginal lands of the world. The growth and productivity of faba bean are affected by various abiotic stresses such as soil salinity.