Multispecies Bacterial Bio-Input: Tracking and Plant-Growth-Promoting Effect on Lettuce var. sagess

VIO, SANTIAGO ADOLFO; GALAR, MARÍA LINA; GORTARI, CECILIA; BALATTI, PEDRO; GARBI, MARIANA; LODEIRO, ANIBAL; LUNA, MARIA FLAVIA

Plants

MDPI

Lugar: Basel; Año: 2023

2223-7747

The use of bacterial multispecies bio-inputs is a promising strategy of sustainable crop production, potentially overcoming the limited performance of single-strain applications. However, scientific studies of multispecies bio-inputs applied in horticultural crops are scarce, not only on the growth-promoting effects of bacteria acting together, but also on their compatibility and persistence in the root environment. In this work, we showed how a bacterial multispecies bio-input containing Azospirillum argentinense Az39, Gluconaceto-bacter diazotrophicus PAL-5, Pseudomonas protegens Pf-5 and Bacillus sp. Dm-B10 improved lettuce plant growth more effectively than single-inoculation. Compatibility and persis-tence of the strains were performed in situ in aqueous formulation and inoculated sub-strate and in vivo by testing root colonization in seedlings grown in controlled conditions. All the strains were able to coexist and to colonize lettuce seedling roots grown in con-trolled conditions. This significant colonization was accompanied by a significant en-hancement of plants, not only of seedlings in controlled and nursery greenhouse condi-tions, but also of commercial plants in productive greenhouse in the peri-urban area of La Plata city, Buenos Aires, Argentina. This work is one of the few studies showing the syn-ergistic effects of a bacterial multispecies bio-input on lettuce plants in terms of plant-growth?promoting effects.