Journal Article

Role of plant growth–promoting rhizobacterial consortium in improving the Vigna radiata growth and alleviation of aluminum and drought stresses

Kannan, Velu Rajesh, Logeswari, Peter, Silambarasan, Sivagnanam, Cornejo, Pablo

2019

Overview

Aluminum (Al) is a major constraint for plant growth by inducing inhibition of root elongation in acid soils around the world. Besides, drought is another major abiotic stress that adversely affects growth and productivity of agricultural crops. The plant growth–promoting (PGP) rhizobacterial strains are useful choice to decrease these stressful effects and is now extensively in practice. However, the use of bacterial inoculation has not been attempted for the mitigation of Al stress in plants growing at high Al levels under drought stress. Therefore, in the present study, Al- and drought-tolerant bacterial strains were isolated from Lactuca sativa and Beta vulgaris rhizospheric soils. Among the bacterial isolates, two strains, CAM12 and CAH6, were selected based on their ability to tolerate high levels of Al (8 mM) and drought (15% PEG-6000, w/v) stresses. The bacterial strains CAM12 and CAH6 were identified as Bacillus megaterium and Pantoea agglomerans , respectively, by 16S rRNA gene sequence homology. Moreover, both strains showed multiple PGP traits even in the presence of abiotic stresses. In the pot experiments, inoculation of the strains CAM12 and CAH6 as individually or as included in a consortium improved the Vigna radiata growth under abiotic stress conditions and reduced Al uptake in plants. However, the most effective treatment was seen with bacterial consortium that allowed the plants to tolerate abiotic stress effectively and achieved better growth. These results indicate that bacterial consortium could be used as a bio-inoculant for enhancing V. radiata growth in soil with high Al levels subjected to drought conditions.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Abiotic stress / acid soils / Acidic soils / Aluminum / Aluminum - chemistry / Aquatic Pollution / Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution / Bacillus megaterium / Bacteria / Bacteria - chemistry / Bacteria - genetics / Beta vulgaris / Consortia / crops / Crops, Agricultural / Drought / Drought resistance / drought tolerance / Droughts / Earth and Environmental Science / Ecotoxicology / Elongation / Environment / Environmental Chemistry / Environmental Health / Environmental science / Homology / Inoculation / Lactuca sativa / nucleotide sequences / Pantoea agglomerans / Plant Development / Plant growth / plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria / Research Article / ribosomal RNA / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - chemistry / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics / root growth / rRNA 16S / sequence homology / Soil / Soil Microbiology / Strains (organisms) / Stress, Physiological - genetics / Stresses / Vigna - chemistry / Vigna radiata / Waste Water Technology / Water Management / Water Pollution Control / water stress