article · Scientific Reports
Water shortages severely affect legume production, particularly in arid regions with poor soils. Inoculating five distinct faba bean cultivars with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, specifically Rhizobium leguminosarum and Pseudomonas putida, helped mitigate the adverse effects of water deficit in newly reclaimed, low-fertility sandy soil. When tested under well-watered, moderate drought, and severe drought conditions, drought stress lowered photosynthetic pigments, plant water relations, seed yield, and crop water productivity, whilst increasing antioxidant enzymes and osmoprotectants. Applying a bacterial consortium containing both strains improved these physiological traits and boosted overall crop yield and water productivity across watering levels. The faba bean cultivars responded differently to water stress: Giza-843 and Giza-716 demonstrated the strongest tolerance under moderate drought, whilst Giza-843 and Sakha-4 performed best under severe drought conditions. Combining tolerant cultivars with both bacterial strains provided effective protection against drought stress.
Drought stress threatens food security in arid environments, particularly in nutrient-poor soils. Demonstrating that beneficial soil bacteria can naturally stimulate plant resilience and improve crop water productivity offers a sustainable way to sustain legume production under changing climate conditions, without relying heavily on synthetic inputs.
This work points towards microbial inoculants and biofertilisers for legume farmers and agricultural producers working in arid regions with poor-fertility soils. Agricultural input companies could use these specific bacterial strains to formulate co-inoculants tailored for compatible faba bean cultivars. The findings represent applied and tested research in reclaimed soil conditions, meaning further formulation, stability testing, and field validation would be required before commercial deployment.
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Water deficit has devastating impacts on legume production, particularly with the current abrupt climate changes in arid environments. The application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is an effective approach for producing natural nitrogen and attenuating the detrimental effects of drought stress. This study investigated the influence of inoculation with the PGPR Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae (USDA 2435) and Pseudomonas putida (RA MTCC5279) solely or in combination on the physio-biochemical and agronomic traits of five diverse Vicia faba cultivars under well-watered (100% crop evapotranspiration [ETc]), moderate drought (75% ETc), and severe drought (50% ETc) conditions in newly reclaimed poor-fertility sandy soil. Drought stress substantially reduced the expression of photosynthetic pigments and water relation parameters. In contrast, antioxidant enzyme activities and osmoprotectants were considerably increased in plants under drought stress compared with those in well-watered plants. These adverse effects of drought stress reduced crop water productivity (CWP) and seed yield-related traits. However, the application of PGPR, particularly a consortium of both strains, improved these parameters and increased seed yield and CWP. The evaluated cultivars displayed varied tolerance to drought stress: Giza-843 and Giza-716 had the highest tolerance under well-watered and moderate drought conditions, whereas Giza-843 and Sakha-4 were more tolerant under severe drought conditions. Thus, co-inoculation of drought-tolerant cultivars with R. leguminosarum and P. putida enhanced their tolerance and increased their yield and CWP under water-deficit stress conditions. This study showed for the first time that the combined use of R. leguminosarum and P. putida is a promising and ecofriendly strategy for increasing drought tolerance in legume crops.
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DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02847-2
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