Plant Growth-Promoting Bacterium from Non-Agricultural Soil Improves Okra Plant Growth

Heba Adel AlAli, Ashraf Khalifa and Mohammed Almalki
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Heba Adel AlAli: Al Bilad Bank Scholarly Chair for Food Security in Saudi Arabia, the Deanship of Scientific Research, the Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Ashraf Khalifa: Al Bilad Bank Scholarly Chair for Food Security in Saudi Arabia, the Deanship of Scientific Research, the Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Almalki: Al Bilad Bank Scholarly Chair for Food Security in Saudi Arabia, the Deanship of Scientific Research, the Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-10

Abstract: Beneficial soil microorganisms influence nutrient recycling, soil fertility, plant growth, and productivity and reduce chemical fertilizer application. This study aimed to isolate bacteria from non-agricultural soils in the Al-Ahsa region and characterize the bacteria with the best biostimulating characteristics at the physiological, biochemical, and molecular level. DPM17, a bacterial isolate, promotes plant growth through phosphate solubilization, nitrogen fixation, and ammonia production. DPM17 also produces the phytohormones, indole acetic acid (IAA; 4.516 μg mL −1 ) and gibberellin (1.33 µg mL −1 ), and ammonia (0.06 µg mL −1 ). Additionally, DPM17 grows in the presence of up to 10% NaCl, indicating its halophilic nature. DPM17 was identified as Bacillus baekryungensis based on comparative sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene, and neighbor-joining phylogenetic analyses indicated that DPM17 was 96.51% identified to Bacillus sp. DPM17 inoculation substantially improved Abelmoschus esculentus (okra) root length, lateral root count, and dry weight from 7.03 to 9.41 ( p = 0.03), 3.2 to 7.2, and 6 to 13 mg ( p = 0.032), respectively. The results suggest that DPM17 enhances plant growth and can be exploited to develop efficient formulations for sustainable agriculture and food security in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: Bacillus; Abelmoschus esculentus; biostimulation; non-agricultural soils (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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