The Use of Biopolymers for Development of New Type of Bacterial Bioinoculants

abstract

English

Azotobacter vinelandii is a nitrogen-fixing rhizobacterium (PGPR), capable of synthesizing two completely different biopolymers with great potential for applications. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are produced and stored in the form of intracellular granules as energy storage, while alginate is produced extracellularly and used for bacterial protection. In agricultural demand, the use of PGPRs as bio-inoculants to increase the yield of plants and crops can be an alternative to conventional fertilizers. Encapsulation of bacteria into hydrogel-based carriers substantially improves the application potential of the bioinoculant, as well as the viability and robustness of the bacterial culture. In this work, we screened several beneficial effects of different strains of A. vinelandii as the production of iron-chelating compounds (siderophores), phytohormones (Indole Acetic Acid) and bacterial ability to solubilize phosphates. Of all above six different strains we selected one strain with the best results (CCM 289) for IAA production (46.07µg/ml) and use it for inoculation of the soil with Lactuca sativa as a model plant easily affected by even small changes in the environment. The results between inoculated plant and the control were significant in the length of plants and leaves and chlorophyll content. According to our results, the bacteria trapped in a gel matrix seemed to be viable and had beneficial effects on plants, which confirms the feasibility and viability of the novel concept.

PGPRs, bioinoculant, gel application

ČERNAYOVÁ, D.; SÚKENÍK, M.; KALINA, M.; SLANINOVÁ, E.; SEDLÁČEK, P.; OBRUČA, S.

13. 9. 2023

European Symposium on Biopolymers 2023, Brno, Czech Republic

https://esbp2023.com/