Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Scientific Member of Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan Branch, Iran.

Abstract

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria are a subset of bacteria, accumulating on the root and rhizosphere. One of the seed priming methods is the use of microorganisms in seed inoculation, known as biopriming. The use of these microorganisms in seed inoculation leads to increased plant performance, especially if the microorganisms are symbiotic in the root zone of the plants. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of biopriming with Azospirillum and Azotobacter on drought resistance in fescue under greenhouse conditions. Osmotic potential at four levels was applied on the Fescue seeds using polyethylene glycol for 2 and 4 days as priming treatment along with inoculation with rhizobacteria. Drought stress was applied during the plant growth based on field capacity at four levels. The results showed that biopriming treatments caused improved performance and increased drought resistance compared to the control. The study showed that both Azospirillum and Azotobacter increased the performance significantly compared to the control. Generally, Azotobacter showed relatively better performance than Azospirillum.  However, the Azotobacter treatments at 2 and 0.5 MPa for 2 days can be considered as a superior treatment in fescue as compared with other treatments.

Keywords

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