Nutrient enhancement and growth promotion of wheat cultivars by native plant growth promoting bacteria from Punjab state, India

Abstract

Soil bacteria are a rich source for several useful biological attributes. The property of plant growth promotion is one such attribute which has practical applications in agriculture and remediation. Here, we employed bacteria (S2, PC and RA6) isolated from local soil for growth promotion and nutrient enhancement in three wheat cultivars, HD3086, HD2967 and WH1105. One non-local bacterial isolate (CDP13) and a commercial formulation (Symbion - K) were used for comparison. All these bacterial isolates were used alone and in combination with vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM). HD3086 plants inoculated with RA6 gave the best results with reference to shoot and root length and plant weight. The levels of macro and micronutrients estimated using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) showed the same trend with the combination of RA6 and HD3086 displaying the best results. The local plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) characterized for promoting growth in wheat in this study can be used for future studies for biofortification of wheat grains.