The Effect of Two Bacillus Isolates on Root Elongation of Wheat Seedlings

Abstract

Beneficial rhizobacteria called as Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPRs) are commonly used as inoculants for improving the growth and yield of agricultural crops. PGPRs colonize rhizosphere and roots of plants, and assist plants by direct and indirect mechanisms including modification of root system. The present study was focused on determining the effect of two rhizobacterial isolates (belonging to Bacillus genera namely; Gu2 and 127b) on root elongation of wheat seedlings under controlled conditions. Experiment was conducted according to randomized plot design. The wheat seeds coated with the isolates Gu2 and 127b were sown in pots and kept in controlled growth room for 4 weeks. To evaluate the effect of isolate, efficiency percentages of isolate were calculated based on means of linear measurements of roots and statistical analysis were performed by One Way ANOVA. Additionally, the seeds were germinated in petri dishes containing filter paper just to observe the changes on root hair visually. There was a slight increase in the efficiencies obtained from Gu2 isolate (1,87%) whereas 127b decreased primary root at the rate of 2,39%. There were no statistical significant differences between isolate treated and control plants. The results exhibited that there was no considerable impact of rhizobacteria on root elongation; however, there was observable increase in the hairs of wheat root both isolates treated in vitro.