Isolation and characterization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) from rhizosphere of Helianthus annuus L.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) support plant growth through direct and indirect mechanisms. To investigate PGPR strains that support plant growth, 21 bacterial isolates, mostly Bacillus ssp. and Pseudomonas ssp., were isolated from different rhizospheric soils of sunflowers in Kırşehir districts in 2020. All isolates were characterized morphologically, biochemically by screening under in vitro conditions for plant growth-promoting properties such as nitrogen fixation, IAA (indoleacetic acid) production, siderophore production, HCN (hydrogen cyanide) production, inorganic phosphate solubility. It was also screened for extracellular enzyme production and antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum. Among the 21 isolates, 3 isolates (MH-35-4, MH-49-4, MH-64-3) fixed nitrogen, 2 isolates (MH-59-6, MH-64-3), produced siderophores, 8 isolates (MH-35-4, MH-35-6, MH-54-3, MH-54-4, MH-59-1, MH-59-2, MH-59-4, MH-59-8) produced HCN, 6 isolates (MH-35-6, MH-54-4, MH-59-1, MH- 59-2, MH-59-4, MH-59-8) produced IAA, and 7 isolates (MH-35-4, MH-35-6, MH-59-1, MH-59-2, MH-59-4, MH-59-8, MH-64-3) solubilized inorganic phosphate. Additionally, only 2 isolates (MH-54-3, MH-54-4) were positive amylase tests, 8 isolates (MH-35-6, MH-54-4, MH-59-1, MH-59-2, MH-59-4, MH-59-6, MH-59-7, MH-59-8) were positive citrate tests, 8 isolates (MH-35-1, MH-35-4, MH-35-7, MH-49-4, MH-54-4, MH-59-6, MH-59-7, MH-64-3) were positive protease tests, and 6 isolates (MH-35-1, MH-35-3, MH-35-7, MH-54-3, MH-54-4, MH-59-7) were positive gelatin hydrolysis tests. Among 21 isolates, 38% were determined as hydrogen cyanide producers, 10% as siderophore producers, 29% IAA producers, 33% as phosphate solubilizers and 14% as nitrogen fixers. Isolate MH-35-6 showed the highest antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum with an inhibition rate of 53.57%. This was followed by isolates MH-54-1 (51.19%), MH-54-3 (47.61%) and MH-59-2 (38.09%), respectively. Therefore, our study reveals that bacteria that promote plant growth in sunflowers can be used to increase crop yield and as a biocontrol agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]