Address :
(
1Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt,
2Department of Chemistry of Natural and Microbial Products, National Research center, Giza, Egypt,
3Water and Environment Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt).
Main Data :
Pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of biofertilizers (inoculation with different bacterial isolates), foliar spraying with some micronutrients (Mn, Zn, Fe and Mn+Zn+Fe) and their interaction on growth, physiological parameters and nutrients content of wheat plants grown on reclaimed soil. Pot experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of National Research center, the experimental design was split plot with four replicates. Four biofertilizer treatments (un-inoculated,
Bacillus polymyxa, Azotobacter chroococcum or Azosprillium barasilense) were used and randomly distributed in the main pots. The foliar treatments with micronutrients were randomly distributed in the sub plots. The growth parameters (plant height, leaf area, roots, shoots and whole plant dry weights and number of tillers & leaves per plant); some physiological parameters (soluble sugar %, protein %, polysaccharide %, chl. A+b μg cm
−1 leaf per plant, carotenoids μg g
−1, IAA mg kg
−1 and psll mol DCPIP reduced per mg chl. per h) and nutrient contents (N, P, K, Mg, Mn, Zn and Cu) of wheat plants were significantly increased by inoculating wheat grains with different bacteria as compared with un-inoculated plants (control). The highest values of all the mentioned parameters were obtained by using
Azospirillum brasilense followed by
Azotobacter chroococcumand Bacillus polymyxa in decreasing order. Foliar spraying treatments significantly increased the growth parameters, physiological parameters as well as nutrients content of wheat plants as compared with control. Highest values were obtained by using (Mn+Fe+Zn) treatment followed by Zn, Fe and Mn in decreasing order. Micronutrients in wheat plants differed as the foliar treatments were differed, so application of any micronutrient individually significantly increased its content and enhanced the content of other micronutrients in wheat. Interaction between the used biofertilizers and foliar spraying with micronutrients significantly affected all the studied parameters of wheat plants, the highest were obtained by inoculating wheat grains with
Azospirillum brasilense and spraying the plants with (Mn+Fe+Zn) treatment, while the lowest values were attained by un-inoculated grains (control) and spraying the wheat plants with tap water (control). Effective microorganisms in combination with micronutrients could be recommended to farmers to lead higher wheat yield.
Keywords: bacterial isolates; biofertilizers; foliar spray; micronutrient; nutrient content; physiological parameters; wheat plants