Influence of Bacteria Isolated from Different Ecological Zone of Turkey on Maize Growth and Nutrient Uptake

The aim of this study was to find potential PGPR from sub-forest soil located different region soils of Turkey. Previous research indicated that the existing bacteria in arable soil are not capable to represent their individual performance most probably due to the competition. To overcome this phenomenon, soils are collected from sub-forest soil of Adana (Ad), Antalya (An), Hatay (Ha), Isparta (Is), Ordu (Or) and Sivas (Si) provinces. Experiment was carried out on the soil existing in Isparta in a greenhouse condition. Four fast growing bacteria colonies in tryptic soy (CASO) agar medium from each province were isolated and then, each isolate cultivated at liquid CASO broth until they reach 106 cfu ml-1. Experiments were carried out with a total of 24 bacteria including 6 province and 4 bacteria cultures from each region. The effects of those bacteria on biomass development and nutrient uptake of maize (Zea mays) were investigated. Sterile broth was applied treatment defined as control. The results revealed that 23 isolates out of 24 stimulated plants shoot dry weight. The highest value observed in the Or1 and Is4 isolates as 12.8 and 12.7 g plant-1 which around 77% higher than control whereas the lowest was in Or2 as 6.45 g plant-1. Plant nutrient concentrations were also influenced from inoculates where An1, Ad1, Or1, Is1 and Is3 significantly increased macro nutrients uptake where total N, available P, K, Ca and Mg were higher by 19%, 14%, 14%, 59% and 41% over the control, respectively. The Fe concentration was found 48% higher in Ad3 isolate. The Cu, Mn and Zn were the highest in Si3 as 43%, 30% and 31%, respectively. In general 4 out of 24 isolates were selected as promising PGPR for both plant development and nutrient uptake of maize.