Influence of indigenous bacillus strains on growth of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum var. Abbreviatum) in a green house

Abstract

Indigenous bacteria in the rhizosphere of plants are capable of stimulating plant growth either directly or indirectly. The present study was conducted to assess the influence of indigenous Bacillus strains on the growth of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum var. abbreviatum) in the green house. Bacillus species were isolated from the rhizosphere of pepper plants, identified and screened for plant growth-promoting traits. The in-vitro germination assay was conducted using potential plant growth-promoting Bacillus isolates, followed by greenhouse experiments which were conducted in 2018 and 2019 at FUNAAB. Each experiment was performed in a completely randomized design with five treatments (no Bacillus, B. licheniformisBP01, B. subtilisBP03, B. subtilisBP08 and B. megateriumBP11) in four replicates. Data on agronomic traits were collected and analyzed using One-way analysis of variance. The in-vitro germination assay revealed that inoculation of bell pepper seeds with Bacillus strains resulted in 4.63% to 41.64% germination increase over un-inoculated seeds. The green house studies showed that the bacterial strains significantly (p ≤ 0.05) promoted the growth of bell pepper plants in all trials. The plant heights, leaf lengths, leaf numbers and stem girths of the inoculated plants ranged from 35.25 – 39.58 cm, 6.93 – 8.98 cm, 15.25 – 16.75, and 0.35 – 0.48 cm respectively compared to the un-inoculated plants (24.35cm, 5.05cm, 10.25 and 0.20cm respectively). The shoot and root weights were also significantly increased with bacterial inoculation. Therefore, B. licheniformisBP01, B. subtilisBP03, B. subtilisBP08 and B. megateriumBP11could be utilized as effective bioinoculants to promote growth of bell pepper under greenhouse conditions.