Effects of a compound inoculant of peanut growth-promoting rhizobacteria on physiological and biochemical indexes of peanut plants in a continuous cropping system and rhizosphere bacterial community

Abstract:

[Objective] To apply multifunctional plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to enhance peanut growth and mitigate the inhibitory effects caused by continuous cropping. [Methods] Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria were screened from the rhizosphere soil of peanut plants in a system with continuous cropping for ten years, and their growth-promoting and antagonistic abilities were determined. The strains were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Three plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial strains with complementary functions and no growth inhibition between each other were selected to prepare a compound microbial inoculant, the plant growth-promoting effect of which was examined by seed germination and pot experiments. High-throughput sequencing was carried out for the V3–V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene. [Results] A total of 37 plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial strains capable of promoting plant growth and inhibiting pathogen growth were screened from the rhizosphere of peanut plants in a continuous cropping system. Three strains were selected to prepare the compound inoculant. Compared with the blank control, the compound inoculant increased the germination rate of peanut by 13.22%. Compared with the treatments with the three strains alone, the compound inoculant increased the germination rate by 6.99%, 7.51%, and 8.87%, respectively. The application of the compound inoculant had significant promoting effects on the root morphology, number of nodules, chlorophyll relative content (SPAD), photosynthetic parameters, and antioxidant enzyme activity of peanut plants. Specifically, it increased the total root length, number of root tips, taproot diameter, root volume, and root activity by 43.50%, 49.31%, 15.11%, 16.92%, and 112.16%, respectively. The application of the compound inoculant significantly increased the leaf SPAD value and promoted the photosynthesis of peanut plants at seedling stage and flowering stage. Furthermore, it increased the number of root nodules by 34 nodules per plant. However, the application of the compound inoculant had no significant effect on the bacterial diversity in peanut rhizosphere. The dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, and Bacteroidota, accounting for more than 70%. Novosphingobium and Sphingomonas were the dominant genera. [Conclusion] The compound inoculant of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria improved the seed germination, root growth, leaf SPAD value, and photosynthesis of peanut plants, providing technical support for alleviating continuous cropping obstacles and promoting the healthy growth of peanut plants.