Boosting Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Production With Rhizobacteria From Various Plants in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study focused on rhizobacteria to promote sustainable crop production in arid regions of Saudi Arabia. The study isolated 17 tightly root-adhering rhizobacteria from various plants at Hada Al Sham in Saudi Arabia. All 17 rhizobacterial isolates were confirmed as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria by classical biochemical tests. Using 16S rDNA gene sequence analyses, the strains were identified as Bacillus, Acinetobacter and Enterobacter. Subsequently, the strains were assessed for their ability to improve the physiology, nutrient uptake, growth, and yield of alfalfa plants grown under desert agriculture conditions. The field trials were conducted in a randomized complete block design. Inoculation of alfalfa with any of these 17 strains improved the relative water content; chlorophyll a; chlorophyll b; carotenoid contents; nitrogen (N), phosphorus, and potassium contents; plant height; leaf-to-stem ratio; and fresh and dry weight. Acinetobacter pittii JD-14 was most effective to increase fresh and dry weight of alfalfa by 41 and 34%, respectively, when compared to non-inoculated control plants. Nevertheless, all strains enhanced crop traits when compared to controls plants, indicating that these desert rhizobacterial strains could be used to develop an eco-friendly biofertilizer for alfalfa and possibly other crop plants to enhance sustainable production in arid regions.

Desert Microbes for Boosting Sustainable Agriculture in Extreme Environments

“…Inoculation of alfalfa plants with any of the isolated strains improved plant water content, chlorophyll, carotenoid, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content as well as other plant growth parameters such as plant height, leaf to stem ratio, fresh and dry weight. This study demonstrates the potential of using the desert rhizobacterial strains to develop novel bio-fertilizers for the improvement of crop production in hyper arid regions such as Saudi Arabia (Daur et al, 2018).…”

“…Thus, desert plants display a perfect niche for studying the bacterial diversity as well as isolating their associated PGPR. In order to exploit them for their magnificent capabilities to enhance plant growth and resistance in arid, semi-and hyper-arid environments for obtaining more fertile soil, higher crop yields, increased agriculture sustainability to help improving the desert framing (Marasco et al, 2012;Cherif et al, 2015;Daur et al, 2018;de Zélicourt et al, 2018).…”

“…These results emphasize the potential of Azospirillum as a bio-fertilizer to help plant growth in nitrogen-deficient soils (El Sayed et al, 2015). In another study at Hada Al Sham, Daur et al (2018) have isolated several root-adhering rhizobacteria from the desert plants (Setaria viridis, Cenchrus ciliaris, P. antidotale, Amaranthus viridis, and Dichanthium annulatum). The bacterial strains were identified as Bacillus, Actinobacter, and Enterobacter, the biochemical assays confirmed that all the isolates have PGP traits such as IAA, ACC deaminase, siderophores, phosphatase production, and solubilization.…”

Plant growth-promoting bacteria and silicon fertilizer enhance plant growth and salinity tolerance inCoriandrum sativum

“…Potential PGPB strains were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) growing at the Agricultural Research Station of King Abdulaziz University located at Hada Al-Sham (21°48 ′ 3 ′′ N, 39°43 ′ 25 ′′ E), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in November 2017 following the method described by Sarkar et al (2012). The soils of the area are sandy loam, alkaline (pH 7.73), and saline (EC 2.9) (Mahmood et al 2016;Daur et al 2018). In the present study, alfalfa plants were selected because of the availability of the plants during the period of sample collection.…”

Emerging Technologies to Enable Sustainable Controlled Environment Agriculture in the Extreme Environments of Middle East-North Africa Coastal Regions

“…We also limit the discussion of field agriculture as our work focuses on future CEA. Additional efforts in improving rhizobial interactions and desert-probiotics for crops grown in harsh environments are also steadily developing, with promising results for encouraging heat tolerance and desiccation resistance under outdoor conditions (Bang et al, 2018;Daur et al, 2018;Eida et al, 2018). These efforts can serve as a roadmap for encouraging low-water use in field agriculture for some plants that are grown outdoors in harsh environments (Saad et al, 2020).…”