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. 2023 Aug 31;12(17):3141.
doi: 10.3390/plants12173141.

Effect of Co-Application of Azospirillum brasilense and Rhizobium pisi on Wheat Performance and Soil Nutrient Status under Deficit and Partial Root Drying Stress

Bushra Ahmed Alhammad  1 , Muhammad Saqlain Zaheer  2 , Hafiz Haider Ali  3 , Akhtar Hameed  4 , Kholoud Z Ghanem  5 , Mahmoud F Seleiman  6   7
Affiliations

Effect of Co-Application of Azospirillum brasilense and Rhizobium pisi on Wheat Performance and Soil Nutrient Status under Deficit and Partial Root Drying Stress

Bushra Ahmed Alhammad et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Water management techniques are improving at the farm level, but they are not enough to deal with the limited availability of water and increased crop yields. Soil microbes play a vital role in nitrogen fixation, improving soil fertility and enhancing plant growth hormones under drought conditions. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the impact of water management combined with Azospirillum brasilense and Rhizobium pisi on wheat crop productivity and soil properties in dry regions. Three water management techniques were compared, normal irrigation as a control (C), deficit irrigation (DI), and partial root drying irrigation (PRD), together with the interaction of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Experiments were conducted with six treatments in total: T1 = C + No PGPR, T2 = C + PGPR, T3 = DI + No PGPR, T4 = DI + PGPR, T5 = PRD + No PGPR, and T6 = PRD + PGPR. The highest grain yield was achieved in the control irrigation treatment using seeds inoculated with rhizobacteria, followed by control treatment without any inoculation, and the lowest was recorded with deficit irrigation without rhizobacteria inoculated in the seeds. However, PRD irrigation resulted in significantly higher plant growth and grain yield than the DI treatment. PGPR inoculation combined with PRD resulted in a 22% and 20% higher number of grains per spike, a 19% and 21% higher grain yield, and a 25% and 22% higher crop growth rate compared to rhizobacteria inoculation combined with the DI system in 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively. This increase was due to the higher production of growth hormones and higher leaf area index under water-limited conditions. A greater leaf area index leads to a higher chlorophyll content and higher food production for plant growth.

Keywords: crop yield; partial root drying; rhizobacteria; soil fertility; water stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of PGPR on the transpiration rate of wheat under different irrigation systems. The different letters show a significant difference in treatments at 5% probability level. PGPR (plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria), C (control), DI (deficit irrigation), PRD (partial root drying).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of PGPR on the proline contents of wheat under different irrigation systems. The different letters show a significant difference in treatments at 5% probability level. PGPR (plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria), C (control), DI (deficit irrigation), PRD (partial root drying).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of PGPR on the chlorophyll contents of wheat under different irrigation systems. The different letters show a significant difference in treatments at 5% probability level. PGPR (plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria), C (control), DI (deficit irrigation), PRD (partial root drying).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of PGPR on the stomatal conductance at tillering stage of wheat under different irrigation systems. The different letters show a significant difference in treatments at 5% probability level. PGPR (plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria), C (control), DI (deficit irrigation), PRD (partial root drying).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effects of PGPR on the stomatal conductance at flag leaf stage of wheat under different irrigation systems. The different letters show a significant difference in treatments at 5% probability level. PGPR (plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria), C (control), DI (deficit irrigation), PRD (partial root drying).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effect of PGPR on the relative water contents (RWC) at flag leaf stage of wheat under different irrigation systems. The different letters show a significant difference in treatments at 5% probability level. PGPR (plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria), C (control), DI (deficit irrigation), PRD (partial root drying).
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