Plants growth-promoting bacteria improves fruit yield and quality of tomato(Solanum lycopersicum)

ALMIRON, C.C.; BADIN, E.E.; CASET, M.L.; ROMERO, A.M.; LESPINARD, A.R.; YARYURA, P.M.

BIOCELL

INST HISTOL EMBRIOL-CONICET

Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2021 vol. 45 p. 50 - 50

0327-9545

Currently, the horticulture industry produces a growing demand for nutritious and organic food obtained in a sustainable way. However, this activity generates the highest use of agrochemicals per unit area of production. The use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is one of the strategies to reduce or replace the use of agrochemicals leading to sustainable agriculture. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most widely consumed vegetables in the world and represents a source of essential nutrients for human health. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the knowledge about the effect of fertilization treatments on both yield and nutritional quality of this product. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the native PGPR on yield and nutritional quality of the tomato fruit. For this purpose, five rhizobacteria isolated from roots of tomato, TVMAP2 (Bacillus sp), TVM4 (Enterobacter sp.), TVMYP6 (Bacillus sp.), TVMY10 (Paenibacillus sp.) and TVMY15 (Bacillus sp.), which previously showed a positive effect on plant growth at the vegetative stages of the crop, were evaluated. Experiments were conducted on tomato cultivar Ichivan. Plants were grown in individual 10 L pots with Grow Mix-Terrafertil in a greenhouse under natural temperature (18?28 °C) and light (14 h) conditions used. Treatments with the rhizobacteria were performed by irrigation, on the base of the stem, with 10 mL aliquots of individual rhizobacterial suspensions (108 CFU/mL) after 6 days post-transplant and 20 mL after 15 days post-transplant. Sterile water was used for the control treatment (C). Eight experimental units were used for each of the treatments evaluated, and all received a recommend commercial fertilization dose, except one treatment (TVMAP2 50) with its respective control (C50), where was reduced to 50% of the recommended dose. After 85 days of growth, the plants were harvested; the yield and nutritional quality of the fruit, including lycopene, vitamin C, total acidity, pH, among others, were performed. Inoculation with the strain TVMY15 showed a significant increase of 10% in tomato yield compared to the control (C). Moreover, a significantly (P < 0.05) higher level of lycopene in fruits of plants inoculated with TVMY10, regarding the control (C), was observed. In addition, the inoculation with the strain TVMAP2 with the reduction of fertilizer to 50% (TVMAP2 50) produced higher yields in red fruits with respect to the C50 and, also, fruits with higher vitamin C content in comparison with controls C50 and C. The results of this study show the potential of TVMY10 and TVMY15 to enhance the yield and nutritional quality of fruits and in addition the use of TVMAP2 to improve tomato culture under nutritional stress conditions. Further studies under different field conditions and combined application of selected bacteria could be tested to maximize the beneficial plant growth response and reveal the potential of these isolates as biofertilizers agents.