Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Crop Biology and Sustainability
Volume 8 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1520444
This article is part of the Research Topic Enhancing Soil and Crop Resilience: Strategies Against Climate-Driven Salinization and Degradation View all 3 articles

Bacillus Spizizenii FMH45-Based Biofertilizer Enhances Growth and Halotolerance of Cherry Tomato Plants under Hydroponic Cultivation Systems

Provisionally accepted
Fatma Masmoudi Fatma Masmoudi 1Imen Saadaoui Imen Saadaoui 1*Saoussen Ben Khedher Saoussen Ben Khedher 2Slim Tounsi Slim Tounsi 3
  • 1 Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
  • 2 High Agronomic Institute of Chott Mariem, Sousse, Tunisia
  • 3 Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

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

    Hydroponic cultivation systems using desalinated groundwater may play pivotal role in reducing freshwater consumption for irrigation. However, reliance on desalination remains unsustainable due to its high cost, energy demand, and the serious environmental impacts of its brine byproducts.Producing a biofertilizer that enables groundwater irrigation in hydroponics by enhancing plant halotolerance and resistance to salt stress offers a promising solution to address freshwater scarcity and low soil quality in arid and semi-arid regions, such as the Arabian Gulf. This study investigates the potential of Bacillus spizizenii FMH45 in field experiment to enhance tomato plant production under greenhouse cultivation in hydroponics using directly groundwater for irrigation without desalination. Results demonstrated that the FMH45-based biofertilizer (HB45) significantly improved plant physiological parameters under greenhouse conditions. These improvements included a notable increase in shoot elongation (>13%), enhanced SPAD index values (>8%), and significant rises in flower and fruit counts (≃ 11% and 22%, respectively). B. spizizenii HB45 showed significant potential to increase bacterial densities by over 100-fold in various plant organs under saline irrigation and prevent salt infiltration into internal plant tissues. Furthermore, HB45treatment enhanced the plant oxidative stress response as evidenced by stable catalase activity, an approximately 50% reduction in lipid peroxidation markers such as malondialdehyde (MDA), and a 35% decrease in reactive oxygen species (ROS), including hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). These findings demonstrate that B. spizizenii FMH45 holds significant potential for the development of effective biofertilizers capable of mitigating salt stress while boosting crop productivity. This approach offers a sustainable alternative to desalination-dependent hydroponics, particularly for arid and semi-arid regions, including Qatar.

    Keywords: Bacillus spizizenii, Groundwater irrigation, Halobacteria-based biofertilizer, Hydroponic cultivation system, salt stress, Oxidative Stress

    Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Masmoudi, Saadaoui, Ben Khedher and Tounsi. 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: Imen Saadaoui, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

    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.