Effects of potassium‐solubulizing and photosynthetic bacteria on tolerance to salt stress in maize

Abstract

Aims The purpose of this study was to determine the positive effects of potassium‐solubilizing bacteria and photosynthetic bacteria on the salt tolerance of maize. Methods and Results We selected the maize inbred lines USTB‐265 (salt‐sensitive), USTB‐109 (moderately salt‐tolerant) and USTB‐297 (salt‐tolerant) to investigate their growth characteristics, enzyme activity and gene expression in response to inoculation with photosynthetic bacteria and potassium‐solubilizing bacteria under salt‐stress conditions. Conclusions Photosynthetic bacteria and potassium‐solubilizing bacteria inoculation significantly enhanced the expression of antioxidant enzyme‐related genes and increased the activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase. In addition, inoculation with photosynthetic bacteria more efficiently improved maize salt tolerance than inoculation with potassium‐solubilizing bacteria. While the effects of these bacteria differed among the three maize lines, both photosynthetic bacteria and potassium‐solubilizing bacteria can enhance salt tolerance in maize. Significance and Impact of the Study Soil salinization is one of the most critical factors affecting maize growth. These two types of bacteria (e.g. Bacillus mojavensis JK07 and Rhodopseudomonas palustris) have proven useful in salinized agricultural lands as bio‐inoculants to increase crop productivity.

Spatial distribution and identification of bacteria in stressed environments capable to weather potassium aluminosilicate mineral

“…The biological process of release of K from minerals involves the activity of microorganisms. In the recent years, reports have been published on the utilization of silicate mineral weathering bacteria for crop improvement [1,[6][7][8][9][10][11]. Initially, only species of Bacillus were reported to weather silicate mineral.…”

Suaeda salsa Root-Associated Microorganisms Could Effectively Improve Maize Growth and Resistance under Salt Stress

“…These results all indicate that the improvement in maize physiologies due to these inoculated strains played an important role in alleviating damage to maize due to salt stress. Feng et al ( 34 ) found that the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate in maize increased after inoculation with photosynthetic bacteria and potassium-enhancing bacteria, which effectively improved the salt tolerance of maize. Li et al ( 35 ) reported that a novel PGPR strain, Kocuria rhizophila , mitigated the deleterious effects of salinity on maize growth and development by regulating plant hormones and nutrient acquisition, thereby maintaining ionic homeostasis and improving photosynthesis.…”

Organic material combined with beneficial bacteria improves soil fertility and corn seedling growth in coastal saline soils

“…Many researchers stated that growth and yield traits of corn could be significantly improved by the addition of PSB and KSB, compared with the control (Yadav et al, 2018;Feng et al, 2019). Beneficial bacteria can avoid ion toxicity by regulating various physiological processes of plants in saline soil (Ilangumaran and Smith, 2017), with improved water-salt balance, and ion balance under saline conditions by regulating the transpiration rate, carbohydrate transport, and K + transporter activity of corn (Marulanda et al, 2010;Rojas-Tapias et al, 2012).…”