Abstract
Probiotic bacteria, inhabiting the endosphere of plants, presents a major opportunity to develop cheap and eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic agrochemicals. Using standard microbiological procedures, culturable bacteria were isolated from the endosphere (root, stem and leaf) of two Nigerian rice varieties (Ofada and ITA 150). Assays including indole acetic acid (IAA) production, phosphate solubilization, seed germination assay, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and ammonia production, and antifungal assay were conducted to identify the phytobeneficial bacterial strains. A total of 193 bacteria were isolated from all samples. The roots had the highest bacterial count of 45 and 61 x 108 cfu/g in Ofada and ITA 150 respectively when compared with the stem and leaf samples. The bacterial genera isolated were Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Citrobacter and Escherichia. Eight isolates produced IAA as well as ammonia. Phosphate solubilization was observed in five isolates while four isolates produced HCN. The germination rate of rice seeds coated with bacterial isolates ranged from 81.48% to 100%. Eight bacterial isolates inhibited the growth of Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani, but Citrobacter freundii and Enterobacter cloacae showed the highest antagonism. Thus, eight bacteria isolates showed multiple beneficial abilities and may be considered as promising microbial inoculants for rice plant growth and productivity.Keywords: Bacteria, endosphere, plant growth, rice
Highlights
The world's population has been projected to hit 9 billion by 2050 (Ronald, 2011), and most of this growth is expected to happen in sub-Saharan Africa, in Nigeria
A total of 193 bacterial strains were isolated from the endosphere of the two rice cultivars examined at 108 colony forming units (CFU)/g (Plate 1)
Various endophytic bacteria that inhabit plant tissues can aid in sustainable agriculture
Summary
The world's population has been projected to hit 9 billion by 2050 (Ronald, 2011), and most of this growth is expected to happen in sub-Saharan Africa, in Nigeria. The challenge of feeding the world's poorest people in an environmentally sustainable manner will no doubt be immense. Rice consumption is expected to increase as well. Increasing rice production worldwide will help to feed the world. Despite the 6.74 million tonnes of rice produced in Nigeria in 2014 (FAOSTAT, 2015), Nigeria has remained one of the largest importers of rice, second to Indonesia. Its importation bill of rice has increased from $1,000,000 in the 1970s to as high as $800 million in 2005 (WARDA, 2007) and in 2014, Nigeria spent N1 billion daily importing rice (Osagie, 2014)
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