Macro and micronutrients are vital for the growth and productivity of the plants. Zinc (Zn) is considered to be one of the essential micronutrients for the growth and development of cereals as well as fodder crops. It is also a regulatory cofactor for all those enzymes which are required for the synthesis of chlorophyll, proteins and carbohydrates. The functioning of these enzymes is affected significantly due to Zn deficiency and there will be a retarded growth and productivity of plants. Deficiency of Zn is a universal problem among cereal crops. The concentration of Zn varies from 6-1.2 mg/kg in various soils, whereas its concentration reaches 20-300 ppm in plants. Zn deficiency leads to chlorosis in the leaves of plants. Various reasons affect the availability of Zn in the plants, which include soil type, pH of the soil and availability of other nutrients that work antagonistically for the absorption of Zn. Zn applied as the fertilizer gets converted into unavailable form by making insoluble complexes and thus not available for plants. Hence the best alternative to this issue is the use of Zn solubilising bacteria (ZSB). These ZSB will accumulate in the rhizosphere zone of the plants and will reduce the requirement of the applied Zn fertilizer. It will prevent Zn toxicity in the soil and will enhance the uptake of other macronutrients like phosphorus to the plants.
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a major cereal crop grown worldwide. Most of the world population depends on wheat for their nutrient requirement. Zinc (Zn) is one of the most crucial elements required for the development of wheat plant. It is one of the micronutrients required in many biochemical cycles. It has been found that the concentration of Zn is below the required level in the soil and hence it remains deficient in the crops. To ameliorate the deficit, chemical fertilizers are added in the soil, where as biofertilizers are preferred over chemicals in sustainable agriculture. The paper describes the isolation, screening and molecular characterization of the zinc solubilizing bacteria (ZSB) to improve plant growth. A total of 100 soil samples were collected from the rhizospheric soil of wheat plants. ZSB were isolated by dilution plating on Bunt and Rovira media. The 50 isolates were selected and screened for their Zn solubilization. The zinc tolerance of all the isolates varied from 0.5% to 2% of insoluble Zn. Based on the Zn tolerance ability, 15 bacterial isolates were screened for Phosphate solubilization and further analyzed for the synthesis of IAA, NH3, siderophore production and chitinase activity. The three isolates were selected on the basis of the plant growth promoting characteristics for molecular characterization and were found to be homologous to Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus tropicus. This study documented the establishment and survival of ZSB in the wheat rhizosphere and enhanced plant productivity, thus indicating the potential of isolates as commercial biofertilizers.
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