Cyanobacterial inoculation elicits plant defense response and enhanced Zn mobilization in maize hybrids

Radha Prasanna,Lata Nain,Ngangom Bidyarani,Yashbir Singh Shivay,Santosh Babu,Firoz Hossain,Manuel Tejada Moral

doi:10.1080/23311932.2014.998507

Radha Prasanna, Lata Nain + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2014.998507

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Abstract

AbstractThe present investigation evaluated the effect of inoculating different cyanobacterial formulations on a set of hybrids of maize, in terms of plant defense enzyme activity, soil health parameters, Zn concentration, and yields. Microbial inoculation showed significant effects on accumulation of Zn in flag leaf, with A4 (Anabaena–Azotobacter biofilm) recording the highest values. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that both the hybrids and cyanobacterial treatments brought about significant variation in terms of glomalin-related soil proteins and polysaccharides in soil and the activity of defense enzymes in roots and shoots of the plants. Cyanobacterial inoculants—A4 (Anabaena–Azotobacter biofilm) and A1 (Anabaena sp.–Providencia sp., CW1 + PW5) enhanced the activity of peroxidase, PAL and PPO in roots, which also showed a positive correlation with Zn concentration in the flag leaf. Grain yield ranged from 7.0 to 7.29 t/ha among the different inoculants. Comparative analyses of treatments showe...

Highlights

Cyanobacterial inoculation is known to add organic matter, provide oxygen to the submerged rhizosphere, solubilize phosphate, increase the fertilizer use efficiency of crop plants, and enhance plant growth mediated through the liberation of amino acids, vitamins, and auxins (Mandal, Vlek, & Mandal, 1999; Nain et al, 2010; Prasanna, Rana, Chaudhary, Joshi, & Nain, 2012)
Hybrids were significantly different for the polysaccharide and Glomalin-related soil proteins (GRSPs) content in soil, besides defense enzyme activity of both roots and shoots
Inoculant × hybrid interactions were significant for majority of traits except for Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity of roots, which was significant for hybrids alone in terms of Zn content in leaves and grain and plant parameters—ear height and yield (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Cyanobacterial inoculation is known to add organic matter, provide oxygen to the submerged rhizosphere, solubilize phosphate, increase the fertilizer use efficiency of crop plants, and enhance plant growth mediated through the liberation of amino acids, vitamins, and auxins (Mandal, Vlek, & Mandal, 1999; Nain et al, 2010; Prasanna, Rana, Chaudhary, Joshi, & Nain, 2012). These biofertilizers are important components of rice-based cropping systems for biological nitrogen fixation, which exhibit morphologically distinct forms having seasonal and crop-stage diversity (Nayak, Prasanna, Pabby, Dominic, & Singh, 2004; Prasanna, Babu, et al, 2013; Prasanna, Pattnaik, Sugitha, Nain, & Saxena, 2011; Prasanna et al, 2012). In India, ~25% of maize produce is used for human consumption, while ~61% is used for poultry and animal feed (Dass et al, 2010)

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