Growth and nutrient uptake in oat and barley plants as affected by rhizobacteria

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of diverse rhizosphere bacteria on growth and nutrient uptake of spring oats and spring barley plants in the greenhouse conditions. All the rhizobacterial strains tested (Sinorhizobium meliloti L3Si, Bacillus megaterium SNji, Pseudomonas sp. L2Cr and LG, Enterobacter sp. E1 and Azotobacter chroococcum AV and 7310-22V) showed some of the plant growth-promoting characteristics such as, phosphate solubilization, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and siderophore production. Plant response to rhizobacterial inoculation depended on the applied strain and plant species examined. Inoculation with most of the rhizobacterial strains as well as their mixture, significantly increased shoot dry weight (SDW) and shoot N, P and K content of oat plants compared to the untreated control O (without bacteria inoculation and mineral fertilizers). The best in promoting oat growth were S. meliloti L3Si, A. chroococcum 7310-22V strains and mixture of all strains. Only two strains, Pseudomonas sp. L2Cr and A. chroococcum AV, significantly increased SDW and shoot N and K content of barley plants. Shoot dry weight of plants following inoculation increased from 11 to 36% in oats and up to 16% in barley plants compared to the controls.