The Role of Salt-Tolerant Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria In Increasing The Resistance of Canola to Salt-Stress

Abstract

Salinity, a major environmental stress that inhibits agricultural productivity, has a negative impact on plant growth and development. The goal of this study was to use salt-tolerant bacteria to improve the plant's ability to resist salt-stress and to achieve high canola productivity in saline soil conditions. The rhizobacteria strains, Acinetobacter radioresistens (NBRC 102413) and Enterobacter cloacae (NBRC 102413) were evaluated for their ability to produce organic acids and phytohormones (IAA). A field experiment was conducted in the Agricultural Experimental Station in the Desert Research Center, Ras-Sudr, South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, during the winter season of 2018 / 2019. The researchers focused at how the inoculation with salt-tolerant bacteria and irrigation with three saline underground's water of (8.94, 11.12, and 12.1 dS m -1 ) affected some growth and yield parameters, as well as the nutrients content and intracellular organic osmolytes produced by canola plants grown in saline-calcareous soil. A. radioresistens and En. cloacae , were shown to be able to survive in a saline-nutrient broth medium containing up to 12 % NaCl. The highest values of plant fresh weight, dry weight, seeds yield and oil yield, nutrients content and osmo-protectant molecules (glycinebetaine and choline), as well as rhizosphere microbial counts and dehydrogenase activity, were recorded in treatment of the irrigation with low saline-underground water (8.94 dS m -1 ), while proline increased by using medium saline-underground water (11.12 dS m -1 ).