Effects of foliar application of amino acid liquid fertilizers, with or without Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9, on cowpea yield and leaf microbiota

Abstract

Leaf surface fertilization with liquid fertilizer produced from amino acids constitutes a potentially important source of nitrogen and is important for plant production. However, few reports have focused on the plant growth promotion by novel liquid fertilizers created by new amino acid resources, let alone the influence on leaf microbiota. In this study, the effects of liquid fertilizer, created by amino acids hydrolyzed from animal hairs with or without the PGPR strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9, on crop yield and leaf microbiota were investigated. The results showed that leaves sprayed with amino acid liquid fertilizer (AA) and liquid biological fertilizer (AA9) persistently increased cowpea yields compared to the control amended with chemical fertilizer (CF). Fertilization with amino acid fertilizer showed no significant difference in microbial composition compared with the CF treatment; however, the introduction of functional microbes altered the microbial composition. Pearson correlation analysis, VPA analysis and SEM models all revealed that the amino acids liquid fertilizer application, but not the functional strain or the altered microbiota, performed as the direct driver attributing to yield enhancement. We conclude that leaf fertilization with a novel amino acid liquid fertilizer can greatly enhance the crop yield and that the addition of beneficial microbes may perform the role in further altering the composition of leaf microbiota.

Extracts of Common Pesticidal Plants Increase Plant Growth and Yield in Common Bean Plants

“…Overall, the foliar application was more effective in inducing changes, regardless of treatment ( Figure 1). Foliar application was effective because it facilitated direct contact between the solution applied and the leaf surface where adsorption takes place [40,41], whereas application to the soil is indirect [36]. From this study, the production of amino acids induced by T. diversifolia and T. vogelii was similar to that observed with Neem (Azadirachta indica) where similar metabolic changes were reported by Sharma [42].…”

Rs-198 Liquid Biofertilizers Affect Microbial Community Diversity and Enzyme Activities and Promote Vitis vinifera L. Growth

“…The relative abundance of Bacillus significantly increased after the application of biofertilizer as compared with control [18]. Bacillus promoted the yield of cowpea and may perform the role by further altering the composition of leaf microbiota [36]. The high amount of Pseudomonas may be related to colonization of P. putida Rs-198.…”

Effects of Foliar and Soil-Applied Liquid Organic Fertilizers on the Growth of <em>Basella alba</em> L. and <em>Centella asiatica</em> L.

“…Protein-rich fish wastes were enzymatically hydrolyzed using plant-based crude proteases of papain and bromelain extracted from the fruit wastes of C. papaya and A. comosus respectively to increase the available nitrogen to the plants (Wisuthiphaet and Kongruang, 2015;Gioseffi et al, 2012). Similarly, amino acid liquid fertilizer formulated from the acid hydrolysis of pig hairs recorded high total amino acid and nitrogen contents (Wang et al, 2019).…”

“…Fertilizer that contained decomposed plant materials + fish waste hydrolyzed using the papain enzymes from C. papaya fruit waste (FT1) recorded the highest plant growth performances of B. alba with respect to both fertilizing methods as it contained the highest amount of nitrogen and other major nutrients. Foliar-applied amino acid liquid fertilizer formulated from the acid hydrolysis of pig hairs also revealed significantly higher cowpea yields compared to the chemical fertilizer due to the presence of degraded proteins in available form (Wang et al, 2019). Soil application of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers also enhanced the plant fresh and dry weights due to the increase of photosynthesis process and accumulation of high carbohydrate contests in leaves (Shromin and Kibria, 2018).…”