Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria and Plant Nutrition (Molybdenum and Nitrogen) can Enhance Sugarcane Performance
摘要
Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) inoculation is a promising management to improve sugarcane yield. However, different PGPB-traits from sugarcane fields in northeastern (NE) Brazil associated with plant nutrition (molybdenum – Mo, and nitrogen – N) need to be explored due to their potential to N budgets impact plant growth. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nitrogen nutrition and the performance of sugarcane in response to inoculation with PGPB and Mo and N fertilization. Two inoculation treatments and the control were used, (1) Pantoea sp. (UAGC 865); and (2) Stenotrophomonas sp. (UACG 869), and then plants were subjected to the interaction between N (0 and 2.90 g pot−1) and Mo (0 and 0.90 g pot−1) fertilizations. The biomass production, N contents, nitrate reductase and δ15N were measured in cane plant (RB867515 variety) in a greenhouse. The results suggest that Mo/N availability and bacteria strains affect N2 fixation and alter the plant growth-promoting effects. Contribution of atmospheric N2 to sugarcane was only significant in non-N-fertilized plants (53%). N fixation responded to the inoculation of strains and Mo availability with a tendency to increase N in BNF; however, N levels did not increase nor did they surpass the biomass yield of N-fertilized plants. Inoculation of strains, mainly Stenotrophomonas sp., and crop nutrition promoted the greatest increase in biomass production (53.8%), with BNF contributions of only 1.63%. Thus, the growth-promoting processes induced by inoculation and N and Mo fertilization can be promising strategies to increase crop yield potential in NE Brazil.