Potential role of plant growth-promoting bacteria in Miscanthus x giganteus phytotechnology applied to the trace elements contaminated soils

The second-generation energy crop Miscanthus x giganteus (M. xgiganteus) is a perspective plant for phytoremediation of contaminated lands and the production of biomass. The excellent quality biomass can be ensured by adding soil amendments or inoculation of the plant by plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). The main goal of the current study was to research the influence of PGPB Bacillus altitudinis strain KP-14 isolated from the post-mining aged contaminated soil in Vsebořice dump, Usti nad Labem to the phytoremediation parameters and biomass production of M. xgiganteus. The experiment was done in the greenhouse conditions using the initial aged soil contaminated by the following trace elements (TEs): V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Pb and the same aged soil, additionally artificially contaminated by Pb. The results showed that PGPB treatment increased the growth process and leaves, stems, and roots biomass at harvest by 49%, 86%, and 76%, respectively. In the presence of B. altitudinis strain KP-14, the translocation factor decreased, the uptake index of TEs remained low and the process can be classified as phytostabilization. The finding showed that the application of PGPB strain could be used in the sustainable production of M. xgiganteus at the TEs contaminated soil.