IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i11p4605-d1404439.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unlocking the Potential of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria to Enhance Drought Tolerance in Egyptian Wheat ( Triticum aestivum )

Author

Listed:
  • Mahmoud A. Salem

    (Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11355, Egypt)

  • Menattallah A. Ismail

    (School of Biotechnology, Badr University in Cairo (BUC), Badr City 11829, Egypt)

  • Khaled H. Radwan

    (Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza 12619, Egypt)

  • Haytham M. Abd-Elhalim

    (School of Biotechnology, Badr University in Cairo (BUC), Badr City 11829, Egypt
    Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza 12619, Egypt)

Abstract

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) represent a promising strategy for enhancing plant resilience and yields under drought-stress conditions. This study isolated and characterized PGPR from wheat rhizosphere soil in Egypt. Four PGPR strains were evaluated for an array of plant growth-promoting traits, including IAA production, biofilm formation, siderophore production, nitrogen fixation, ACC deaminase activity, phosphate solubilization, and antagonistic potential. Molecular identification via 16S rRNA sequencing classified three isolates (MMH101, MMH102, and MMH103) within the Bacillus genus and one isolate (MMH104) as Myroides sp. Greenhouse experiments examined the effects of PGPR inoculation on the drought-stressed Egyptian wheat cultivar, Gimmeza-9. Wheat plants inoculated with PGPR isolates showed dramatic improvements in growth parameters and stress tolerance indicators compared to non-inoculated controls when subjected to a 10-day drought period, with Bacillus rugosus (MMH101) inoculation resulting in increases of 61.8% in fresh biomass, 77.2% in dry biomass, 108.5% shoot length, and 134.9% root length. PGPR treatments also elevated the chlorophyll and proline content while reducing malondialdehyde levels. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of PGPR inoculation in enhancing the morphology, physiology, and drought stress resilience of wheat. Isolated PGPR strains hold promise as biofertilizers for improving cereal productivity under water-deficit conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahmoud A. Salem & Menattallah A. Ismail & Khaled H. Radwan & Haytham M. Abd-Elhalim, 2024. "Unlocking the Potential of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria to Enhance Drought Tolerance in Egyptian Wheat ( Triticum aestivum )," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4605-:d:1404439
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4605/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4605/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4605-:d:1404439. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.