Plant growth promotion of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) by potassium solubilizing bacteria with multifarious plant growth promoting attributes

Potassium (K) is the foremost macronutrients for growth of plant, soil health and fertility. The huge application of NPK chemical fertilizers negatively impacts the economy and is a threat to environmental sustainability. The rapid depletion of K mineral in soil is due to the application of agro-chemicals agricultural fields for the production of crops in India. In present investigation, K-solubilizing microbes (KSM) were isolated and enumerated from cereal crops growing in Sirmour Himachal Pradesh. A total 125 bacteria were isolated and screened for K- solubilization on Aleksandrov agar plates and found that 31 bacterial strains exhibited K-solubilization. These 31 K-solubilizing strains of bacteria were additionally screened for other plant growth promoting (PGP) potential including solubilization of minerals, production of siderophores, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide and indole acetic acids. The performance of an efficient K-solubilizer was evaluated for plant growth promoting ability in pot assay under in vitro conditions. The strain EU-LWNA-25 positively influenced shoot length, fresh weight, carotenoids and total sugar content than the full dose, half dose and control. The strain enhancing physiological and growth parameters was identified by BLASTn analysis as Pseudomonas gessardii EU-LWNA- 25. K-solubilizing plant growth promoting bacteria could be suitable bioinoculants for Rabi seasonal crops and overcomes the challenges of sustainable agriculture in K-deficient soil.