Potatoes are the most important crop worldwide after rice and wheat. They need great amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous, that is why using PGPRs, (Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria), could be a sustainable way to satisfy their nitrogen needs.
All strains were able to colonise and maintain their population density in the rhizosphere for up to 60 days, with Azospirillum sp. and Rhizobium sp. showing the highest survival rates.
Plants (Kuroda variety) harvested 60 days after sowing.
Of the five strains, l'Azospirillum sp. TN10 produced the highest quantity of IAA (indol-3-acetic acid or auxin, a biostimulant), thus favouring a better root development.
Azospirillum sp. TN10 showed the greatest potential to increase root growth and favour nitrogen absorption, therefore researchers feel it is a good candidate to produce biofertilizers.
Source: Tahir Naqqash, Sohail Hameed, Asma Imran, Muhammad Kashif Hanif, Afshan Majeed, Jan Dirk van Elsas, 'Differential Response of Potato Toward Inocculation with Taxonomically Diverse Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria', 2016, Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol. 7, article 144. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4756182/