Title : Bioprospection of maize associated bacterial consortia across different Moroccan agro-systems for plant growth and p acquisition
Abstract:
Sustainable improvement of agricultural productivity is crucial for addressing food security challenges. Beneficial plant-associated microbes, particularly beneficial microbial consortia play crucial role in enhancing crop resilience and yield. In the present study, rhizoplane-associated bacteria were isolated form maize plant across seven different Moroccan agroecosystems using a novel consortia-oriented isolation approach (niche conservatism) aiming to capture a range of functional species belonging to the same niche with the potential to promote plant growth. Genetic fingerprinting using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-generated profiles allowed elimination of duplicates before bacterial identification using 16s sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA sequences revealed the diversity of the isolates form which a total of 36 BC were constructed with, 28 intra-zone consortia, seven intra-region and one global consortia. Assessment of the effect of BC inoculation on the above and below plant growth parameters of maize plant under green-house conditions revealed increased overall plant biomass production mainly plant shoot and root dry weight , improved plant nutrients uptake (N, P, and K ) , as well as inducing root morphological traits which was associated with enhanced phosphorus ( P) solubilization in the soil. Quantification of genes contributing to P cycling in soil revealed the abundance of gcd gene in most of the BC, followed by the pqqC gene, while the phoD gene which was present in only one BC. Our findings highlight the efficiency of the adopted consortia construction approach for designing potential BC with practical applications in crop improvements.
