Bacillus cereus: An Ally Against Drought in Popcorn Cultivation
Despite the development of adapted popcorn cultivars such as UENF WS01, strategies such as bacterial inoculation are being explored to enhance plant resilience to abiotic stress. This study investigates the impact of drought stress on popcorn cultivation. Specifically, the aim was to identify the benefits of Bacillus cereus interaction with the drought-tolerant hybrid UENF WS01 for its morphophysiology and growth by comparing inoculated and non-inoculated plants under water-stressed (WS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. This evaluation was conducted using a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement. For WS with inoculation samples, there were significant increases in relative chlorophyll content, maximum fluorescence intensity, and agronomic water use efficiency. Chlorophyll content increased by an average of 50.39% for WS samples, compared to a modest increase of 2.40% for WW samples. Both leaf and stem biomass also significantly increased for WS relative to WW conditions. Overall, B. cereus inoculation mitigated the impact of water stress, significantly enhancing the expression of physiological and morphological traits, even when paired with a drought-tolerant hybrid.
Authors
- Alexandre Pio Viana (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2475-4910)
- Talles de Oliveira Santos
- Flávia Nicácio Viana (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7078-7089)
- Shahid Khan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0853-5080)
- Antônio Teixeira do Amaral Júnior (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4831-7878)
- Fábio Lopes Olivares (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6541-0324)
- Gabriella Rodrigues Gonçalves (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7816-9979)
- S. P. Silva
- Monique de Souza Santos
- José Figueiredo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5632-3066)
- Uéliton Alves de Oliveira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8617-6044)
- Eliemar Campostrini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1329-1084)
- Freddy Mora (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4845-3549)
- Valter Jário de Lima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2982-085X)
- Samuel Henrique Kamphorst (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9727-3539)
Institutions
- University of Talca (CL)
- Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (BR)
- State University of Norte Fluminense (BR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Microorganisms
- Published
- 2024-11-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12112351
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Plant Genetic and Mutation Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.60
Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro