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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Terrestrial Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1437489
This article is part of the Research Topic Mineral Solubilizing Microorganisms (MSM) and Their Applications in Nutrient Bioavailability, Bioweathering and Bioremediation, Vol III View all 8 articles

Tripartite Microbial Augmentation of Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, Bacillus sp. MN54, and Piriformospora indica on Growth, Yield, and Nutrient Profiling of Soybean (Glycine max L.)

Provisionally accepted
Munazza Rafique Munazza Rafique 1*Muhammad Naveed Muhammad Naveed 2*Muhammad Zahid Mumtaz Muhammad Zahid Mumtaz 3*Abid Niaz Abid Niaz 1*Saud Alamri Saud Alamri 4Sajid Ur Rahman Sajid Ur Rahman 1Manzer H. Siddiqui Manzer H. Siddiqui 4Adnan Mustafa Adnan Mustafa 5
  • 1 Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
  • 2 Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
  • 3 College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
  • 4 King Saud University, Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 5 Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Enhancing productivity and nutrient content of soybean (Glycine max L.) is vital for sustainable agriculture. The utilization of beneficial bacterial and fungal strains has shown promising results in promoting plant growth and improving nutrient uptake. However, the effects of the individual and interactions of such microbes on soybean growth, yield, and nutrient profiling remain inadequately understood. Thus, there is a pressing need to comprehensively investigate the impact of tripartite microbial augmentation on soybean cultivation. This field study aims to elucidate the synergistic mechanisms underlying the interactions between Bacillus sp. MN54, Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, and Piriformospora indica and their collective influence on soybean growth parameters, yield and nutritional quality. In vivo compatibility tests revealed that consortium applications led to a maximum of 90% soybean germination. The field study demonstrated a significant increase in plant height (17.01%), nodules plant -1 (17.35%), pods plant -1 (12.11%), and grain yield (20.50%) due to triple inoculation over untreated control. The triple inoculation also significantly increased chlorophyll a, b, and leghemoglobin contents by 19.38%, 21.01%, and 14.28%, respectively, compared to control. Triple inoculation promoted crude fiber, protein, and oil content by 14.92%, 8.78%, and 10.52%, respectively, compared to the untreated control. The increase in nitrogen content by 7.33% in grains and 6.26% in stover and phosphorus by 11.31% in grains and 12.72% in stover was observed through triple application over untreated control. Our findings highlight the potential of microbial inoculants as biofertilizers in sustainable soybean production. The triple inoculation with Bacillus sp. MN54, Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, and Piriformospora indica significantly improved soybean growth, yield, grain quality attributes, and nutrient uptake. This microbial consortium application could help to enhance agricultural productivity by boosting the nodulation in soybean and improving synergism between the microbial strains.

    Keywords: Triple inoculation, nodulation, Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, piriformospora indica, Bacillus spp., pulses

    Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 27 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rafique, Naveed, Mumtaz, Niaz, Alamri, Rahman, Siddiqui and Mustafa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Munazza Rafique, Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
    Muhammad Naveed, Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
    Muhammad Zahid Mumtaz, College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
    Abid Niaz, Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.