Influence of diazotrophic bacteria on nodulation, nitrogen fixation, growth promotion and yield traits in five cultivars of chickpea

Abstract

Three bacteria, IC-59, IC-76A and IC-2002, isolated from the nodules of chickpea, were characterized for nodulation, nitrogen fixation, plant growth-promoting (PGP) and yield traits in five cultivars of chickpea such as BG256, RSG888, Subhra, K850 and ICCV2. All the bacteria produced cellulase, protease, β-1,3-glucanase, indole acetic acid, siderophore, hydro cyanic acid and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase while none produced lipase and chitinase. The 16 S rDNA gene sequences of IC-59, IC-76A and IC-2002 were found to match closely with Rhizobium pusense, Paraburkholderia kururiensis and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, respectively. The three bacteria nodulated all the cultivars of chickpea well, amplified nifH gene and fixed nitrogen. Under greenhouse conditions at 30 and 45 days after sowing, treatment of five cultivars of chickpea with bacterial cultures IC-59, IC-76A and IC-2002, enhanced the nodule number (up to 45%, 38% and 43%), nodule weight (up to 31%, 15% and 39%), shoot weight (11%, 16% and 14%) and root weight (37%, 48% and 62%), respectively, over the un-inoculated control. At crop maturity, IC-59, IC-76A and IC-2002 were found to enhance the shoot weight (16%, 40% and 26%), pod number (37%, 69% and 81%), pod weight (17%, 45% and 49%), seed number (21%, 31% and 39%) and seed weight (14%, 56% and 65%), respectively, over the un-inoculated control. Among the five cultivars, Subhra was found to enhance most of the PGP traits when treated with the three diazotrophic bacteria. It is concluded that the three diazotrophic bacteria could be potentially exploited for improving nodulation, nitrogen fixation, PGP and yields of chickpea.

Does inoculation with Rhizobium tropici and nitrogen fertilization increase chickpea production?

“…R. tropici in the roots, through the nitrogenase enzyme complex, catalyzes the reduction reaction of atmospheric N 2 in the plants into NH 3 + , which is converted into organic forms (amides or ureides) released in the xylem and transported to the shoot part, where they are catabolized into ammonium (NH 4 + ) by the plants (Taiz et al, 2017). Gopalakrishnan et al (2018), studying three diazotrophic bacteria (native to India) in chickpea inoculation, also observed an increase in the number of nodules, as well as a higher dry mass of shoot and root.…”

“…In Ethiopia, through which Wolde-Meskel et al (2018) obtained a positive response of the inoculation with Mesorhizobium ciceri on chickpea yield (2.0 t ha -1 ), compared to the control treatment (1.6 t ha -1 ) without inoculation. Emphasizing the importance of the inoculation with nodulating bacteria in chickpea in order to obtain higher profitability and quality of grains (Gopalakrishnan et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2020).…”

Exploiting Biological Nitrogen Fixation: A Route Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

“…Many diazotrophic stains belonging to Rhizobia, Bradyrhizobia, Ensifer, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Bacillus genera were reported to enhance the plant growth and grain yield of chickpea, bean, pea, wheat and rice through phytohormones and secondary metabolites production [ 123 ]. For instance, recent results from Gopalakrishnan et al [ 124 ] have shown that rhizobia act also as PGP by producing indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophores, and organic acids, which leads to a stimulation of stems and roots growth of chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.). Some Bradyrhizobial strains isolated from rice rhizosphere and Azorhizobium caulinodans associated with Sesbania rostrate are capable of fixing nitrogen in the free-living state [ 125 ] under low-oxygen conditions [ 126 ].…”

Understanding the Evolution of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria

“…Due to this property of biological nitrogen fixation, many rhizobacterial strains were inoculated in legume plants and a significant increase in nodulation and nitrogen fixation was observed. The size, weight and number of nodules and fixed nitrogen were found to significantly enhance in the PGPR inoculated plants compared to un-inoculated plants (Islam et al 2013;Kuan et al 2016;Gopalakrishnan et al 2017Gopalakrishnan et al , 2018. Hence, these bacteria are regarded as renewable source of nitrogen in the fields and environment that majorly contribute to the conservation of the soil health.…”