Are Autochthonous Bacteria of Desert Root Environments Capable of Increasing Crop Tolerance to Saline Stress?

Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) could be an alternative for alleviating salinity problems in different plants grown under salinity conditions. The study aimed to evaluate the ability of a bacterial consortium, isolated from the rhizosphere of the species <i>Lycium chinense</i> (LC), with the common name Goji, to alleviate the effect of salt stress on the crop response of two treated <i>Lycium</i> species. The bacterial consortium was applied in a pot experiment under controlled conditions to evaluate whether the consortium had any plant growth promoting effect on plants. Specifically two <i>Lycium</i> species <i>Lycium chinense</i> (LC) and <i>Lycium barbarum</i> (LB) were grown under saline (Ts) and not saline irrigation (Tc), and with (I) or without (NI) consortium inoculation. Inoculation of LB under salinity stress (Ts) significantly improved the leaf area compared to the uninoculated treatment (NI), i.e., 88.8 cm² LB-I-Ts vs. 48.5 cm² LB-NI-Ts. In LC, no significant difference was reported in the leaf area. Under salinity stress (Ts), the dry matter for both <i>Lycium</i> species significantly increased when inoculation occurred. The I treatment led to a higher WUE under the Ts treatment in both LC and LB. The inoculation (I) had a significant effect on the RWC. It was significantly higher under the I than the NI treatment, i.e., 82.5% vs. 77.0% at <i>p</i> ≤ 1%. The analysis of our results highlights that inoculation with the bacterial consortium has a substantially beneficial effect on plants in the presence of salt stress compared to non-saline plants. Furthermore, among the two <i>Lycium</i> species, the beneficial effect of inoculation with PGPB, in conditions of salt stress, is more evident in LB than in LC. Although the detailed mechanism underlying the PGPB activity was not elucidated, the results obtained support the potential beneficial use of soil bacterial species adapted to harsh conditions in the development of productive agricultural systems in saline environments.