PJB-2025-1504
Effect of isolated plant growth promoting rhizobacteria on growth and nutrients uptake by maize in acidic and alkaline soil conditions
Sonia Sumreen, Muhammad Sharif, Tariq Sultan, Dost Muhammad and Ahmad Khan
Abstract
Inoculation with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria is imperative to improve the yield of crops on a sustainable basis. To evaluate the competence of PGPR as a biofertilizer and its effects on the growth, yield, and nutrient uptake of maize, a series of experiments were conducted during 2019-2021. Twenty rhizosphere samples were collected from maize field (ten from the acidic soil of Mansehra and ten from the alkaline soil of Islamabad) for isolation of PGPR, and forty PGPR strains (20 PGPR strains from acidic and 20 PGPR strains from alkaline) were isolated and characterized for multi-plant growth promoting traits. Six PGPR strains (MS64c, MS35b, MS54c from acidic and IS14b, IS33c, and IS54b from alkaline soils) were selected based on P solubilization and N fixation. The effect of these six PGPR strains was determined on the growth and nutrient uptake of maize in the pots experiment. Results revealed that most of the strains belong to Bacillus species, and all the strains have the capability of P solubilization efficiency, NH3 production, and enzyme and hormone production. In the pot experiment, an inoculation of PGPR strain IS33c in alkaline soil significantly (p≤0.05) increased total dry matter yield (94.11 g pot-1) with a 65% increase over uninoculated treatment. The N uptake of 1.44 g pot-1 with 130% and P uptake of 0.153 g pot-1 with 134 % increase over control was recorded with strain IS33c inoculation in alkaline soil followed by strain MS64c inoculation in acidic soil with N 1.12 g pot-1 and IS14b inoculation in alkaline soil with P uptake of 0.132 g pot-1 respectively. Maximum AB-DTPA extractable soil NO3-N of 19.94 mg kg-1 and P contents of 12.13 mg kg-1 were recorded in treatment where PGPR strain IS33c inoculated in alkaline soil followed by the soil NO3-N content of 17.45 and P content of 10.56 mg kg-1 by the inoculation of PGPR strain IS54b in alkaline soil. The population density of bacteria in maize rhizosphere ranged from 51.4 to 79.6 x 107 cfu g-1 soil inoculated with different strains of PGPR. Research findings suggested crop-specific PGPR strains can efficiently colonize a crop's roots and improve crop yield through their multi-plant growth-promoting traits. Using PGPR strains as a biofertilizer can potentially improve crop yield and nutrient uptake sustainably and minimize the dependence on chemical fertilizers
To Cite this article:
Sumreen, S., M. Sharif, T. Sultan, D. Muhammad and A. Khan. 2025. Effect of isolated plant growth promoting rhizobacteria on growth and nutrients uptake by maize in acidic and alkaline soil conditions. Pak. J. Bot., 57(1): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2025-1(15)
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