The Combined Effects of Gibberellic Acid and Rhizobium on Growth, Yield and Nutritional Status in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract

Plant growth regulators and Rhizobium are actively involved in the regulation of flowering, pod formation, nodulation, and ultimately the growth and yield of legumes. However, very limited information is available on the combined effect of gibberellic acid (GA3) and Rhizobium on growth attributes and yield of legume crops. This experiment was designed to fill this gap by studying the performance of chickpea under exogenous application of GA3 (10−4 and 10−5 M) alone and in combination with Rhizobium. Exogenous application of GA3 (10−5 M) combined with rhizobium inoculation gave the highest values for number of nodules per plant (16) and their dry biomass (0.22 g). Moreover, GA3 application and seed inoculation with Rhizobium, when applied singly, significantly enhanced chickpea growth. However, the most promising results were obtained by the inoculation of Rhizobium accompanied with GA3 (10−5 M). Plant height, grain and stover yield, and chlorophyll contents were enhanced up to 35%, 39%, 21%, and 51%, respectively. Likewise, the bioaccumulation of macronutrients (N, P and K) was maximum in plants receiving both Rhizobium inoculation and GA3 application. It is concluded that the combined application of Rhizobium and GA3 has synergistic effects on the growth, yield, and nutrient contents of chickpea.

Recent Advances in the Molecular Effects of Biostimulants in Plants: An Overview

“…In particular, studies on the inoculation of chickpea with Rhizobium sp. significantly enhanced plant biomass and yield, and when combined with foliar application of GA 3 led to increases of up to 39% [208]. Furthermore, higher chlorophyll content and NPK content was observed, with positive effects in the nutritional content of chickpea seeds observed.…”

“…[203] Cicer arietinum L. Increased plant biomass and yield, chlorophyll and NPK content; improved seeds nutritional content. [208] Table 1. Cont.…”

Efficacy of Indole Acetic Acid and Exopolysaccharides-Producing Bacillus safensis Strain FN13 for Inducing Cd-Stress Tolerance and Plant Growth Promotion in Brassica juncea (L.)

“…Stress tolerance in plants can be induced exogenously by application of osmoprotectants, amendments or inoculation with PGPR having the ability to produce different plant growth regulators or exopolysaccharides [61][62][63]. These microbes use different mechanisms such as production of exopolysaccharides, ACC-deaminase activity, catalase activity, phytohormone production and chitinase activity to induce stress tolerance in crop plants [26,64].…”

Potentials, Utilization, and Bioengineering of Plant Growth-Promoting Methylobacterium for Sustainable Agriculture

“…M. nodulans Crotalaria providing nitrogen; decreasing levels of ethylene [12,16,17] M. oryzae Rice increasing plant cytokinin levels; solubilizing phosphate [13,[18][19][20] M. extorquens Pine; Arabidopsis; Brassia inducing the expression of host defense genes [21,22] M. mesophilicum Sugarcane increasing plant cytokinin levels [23] M. radiotolerans Brassia; Combretaceae providing nitrogen; exhibited high antibacterial and antifungal activity; decreasing levels of ethylene [24,25] M. populi Brassia providing nitrogen [26] M. komagatae Brassia providing nitrogen [17] M. aquaticum Brassia providing nitrogen [17] M. funariae Moss increasing plant cytokinin levels [27] M. phyllosphaerae Rice decreasing levels of ethylene [28]…”

“…Methylobacterium spp. acts as an important endophyte in sugarcane and Jatropha curcas and play an important role in the growth and yield of these crops [23,26]. Other members of the genus such as M. extorquens PA1, M. oryzae, and M. nodulans were reported to live on the surface of plants in both the phyllosphere and rhizosphere regions [10,20,30].…”