Natural microbial consortium construction strategy from rhizospheric agricultural soils to improve wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) seedling growth

Microbial consortia of compatible microorganisms play a key role in enhancing agricultural sustainability by optimizing nutrient uptake by promoting plant growth more effectively. This study aimed to identify local isolates with the most effective plant growth-promoting (PGP) properties and to form a consortium of isolates showing the optimal synergistic effect between plant and bacterial components to improve the growth of wheat plants. For this purpose, 48 isolates identified from 145 isolates were screened for their PGP activities. According to the results, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to identify the six isolates exhibiting the most promising activity. Different consortium groups were formed among the isolates showing compatibility with each other to determine the microbial consortium group, and the most effective consortium for wheat growth was determined. These microbial consortia were incorporated into sterilized soil in which sterilised seeds were also sown. After 6 weeks, various growth parameters of wheat plants such as shoot and root length, shoot and root dry weight, and chlorophyll content were determined. The consortium groups consisting of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia TSR34, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens TSR129, and Bacillus subtilis TSR 131 exhibited increased shoot length (4.81%), root dry weight (19.3%), and chlorophyll content (6.06%) compared to the control group. In the future, these strains can be used as bioinoculants for effective growth of wheat.