The Rhizospheric Alkali-Halotolerant Bacillus sp. KhSb-159 Enhanced Growth Parameters of the Mung Bean Crop

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) play a crucial role in enhancing plant growth through various direct and indirect mechanisms. In this investigation, we isolated a potential PGPR, Bacillus sp. KhSb-159, from the rhizosphere of Sorghum bicolor L. located at Kharaghoda, Little Rann of Kutch (LRK), Gujarat (India). The isolated Bacillus sp. KhSb-159 displayed distinctive characteristics, forming circular, sticky, opaque, moderate-sized colonies with brown pigmentation. Interestingly, this strain exhibited growth at an alkaline pH of 9, even in the presence of 1 M NaCl (w/v). Further analysis revealed its capacity to produce indole acetic acid (IAA), ammonia, siderophores, and the ability to solubilize phosphate. In addition, KhSb-159 showed extracellular enzyme secretion, including amylase, protease, and cellulase. Bacillus sp. strain KhSb-159 demonstrated its potential to enhance the growth of mung bean crops which is a significant agricultural application. The treated seeds exhibited improvements in various growth parameters such as shoot length, root length, plant biomass, number of leaves, number of roots, fresh weight of shoot, dry weight of shoot, fresh weight of root, dry weight of root, fresh weight of leaves, and dry weight of leaves. Overall, Bacillus sp. strain KhSb-159 would be a good choice for bioformulation in sustainable agriculture due to its diverse range of abilities. This study has implications for the advancement of eco-friendly farming methods and offers insightful information about using rhizobacterial strains to maximize plant growth.