Screening Multifunctional Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria Strains for Enhancing Seed Germination in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Background and Objective: Food security to the increasing population has become a challenge under shrinking agricultural lands and global climate changes. Increasing wheat production by Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) can be a sustainable approach to meet the demand. The present study was aimed to screen an efficient PGPR for enhancing seed germination in wheat. Methodology: For this concern, rhizospheric soil samples were collected from 17 sites from 3 district of India and the isolated bacteria were tested for their plant growth promoting attributes like phosphate solubilization, Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) and Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) production, catalase test and growth performance under altered pH and temperature. Selected PGPRs were then tested on wheat for their effect on seed germination and vigour index. Results: Of the 26 bacterial isolates screened for their growth promoting attributes, four isolates performed extremely well. High level of phosphate solubilization and IAA production (215.55 g mLG 1 ) was observed by the selected isolates. Fluctuation in pH and temperature affected the bacterial growth, however considerable growth was observed upto 40EC and at pH 5 and 7. On inoculation of isolates Ac21 and Ac26, the percent seed germination of wheat got augmented by two fold and vigour index observed was much higher compared to earlier reports. Conclusion: The bacterial isolates Ac21 and Ac26 possessing a number of plant growth promoting attributes can be promising in accelerating seed germination and plant vigour.