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. 2022 Nov 29;11(23):3289.
doi: 10.3390/plants11233289.

PGP-Bacterium Pseudomonas protegens Improves Bread Wheat Growth and Mitigates Herbicide and Drought Stress

Margarita Bakaeva  1 , Sergey Chetverikov  1 , Maksim Timergalin  1 , Arina Feoktistova  1 , Timur Rameev  1 , Dar'ya Chetverikova  1 , Aliya Kenjieva  1 , Sergey Starikov  1 , Danil Sharipov  1 , Gaisar Hkudaygulov  1
Affiliations

PGP-Bacterium Pseudomonas protegens Improves Bread Wheat Growth and Mitigates Herbicide and Drought Stress

Margarita Bakaeva et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

The reaction of plants to simultaneous stress action and treatment with biological stimulants still remains poorly studied. Laboratory and field experiments have been conducted to study the growth and yield of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) of the variety Ekada 113; stress markers and quantitative ratios of phytohormones in plants under insufficient soil moisture; the effects of spraying with herbicide containing 2,4-D and dicamba and growth-stimulating bacterium Pseudomonas protegens DA1.2; and combinations of these factors. Under water shortage conditions, spraying plants with Chistalan reduced their growth compared to non-sprayed plants, which was associated with inhibition of root growth and a decrease in the content of endogenous auxins in the plants. Under conditions of combined stress, the treatment of plants with the strain P. protegens DA1.2 increased the IAA/ABA ratio and prevented inhibition of root growth by auxin-like herbicide, ensuring water absorption by the roots as well as increased transpiration. As a result, the content of malondialdehyde oxidative stress marker was reduced. Bacterization improved the water balance of wheat plants under arid field conditions. The addition of bacterium P. protegens DA1.2 to the herbicide Chistalan increased relative water content in wheat leaves by 11% compared to plants treated with herbicide alone. Application of the bacterial strain P. protegens DA1.2 increased the amount of harvested grain from 2.0-2.2 t/ha to 3.2-3.6 t/ha. Thus, auxin-like herbicide Chistalan and auxin-producing bacterium P. protegens DA1.2 may affect the balance of phytohormones in different ways. This could be the potential reason for the improvement in wheat plants' growth during dry periods when the bacterium P. protegens DA1.2 is included in mixtures for weed control.

Keywords: drought; herbicide; phytohormone; plant growth promoting bacteria; wheat; yield.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The weight of wheat plant on the 14th day after treatment. NT—no treatment was performed; DA1.2—bacterial treatment with Pseudomonas protegens DA1.2; HERB—herbicide. Statistically different means are indicated by different letters (p ≤ 0.05, n = 50).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Indicators of wheat plants in pots on the 7th day after treatment: (a) evapotranspiration per one plant, n = 25; (b) the amount of malondialdehyde in leaves, n = 9. NT—no treatment was performed; DA1.2—bacterial treatment with Pseudomonas protegens DA1.2; HERB—herbicide treatment. Statistically different means are indicated by different letters (p ≤ 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The amount of phytohormones in wheat leaves and roots: (a) indolylacetic acid; (b) abscisic acid; (c) zeatin. NT—no treatment was performed; DA1.2—bacterial treatment with Pseudomonas protegens DA1.2; HERB—herbicide treatment. Statistically different means are indicated by different letters (p ≤ 0.05, n = 6).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The percentage of protein (n = 3) and raw gluten (n = 6) in the average sample of grain harvested in 2020–2021. NT—no treatment was performed; DA1.2—treatment with Pseudomonas protegens DA1.2; HERB—herbicide treatment. Statistically different means are indicated by different letters (p ≤ 0.05).
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