Uzbek Microbiologist Discovers Salt-Tolerant Bacteria Improve Crop Yields

Microbiologist Dilfuza Egamberdieva from the National University of Uzbekistan at Tashkent has isolated salt-tolerant bacterial strains that live in salt-degraded soils, where they help the rooting process in plants. The bacteria Pseudomonas extremorientalis, are salt-resistant and grow close to the roots, where they compete with other bacteria for colonization. P. extremorientalis produce antibiotics that plants use to defend themselves against fungi, trigger the rooting process and produce nodulation-promoting factors, thus giving the vegetation better chances to fix nitrogen and grow bigger. As an exchange for these favors, plants secrete exudates useful for the bacteria.

To better exploit these useful bacterial strains, the Uzbek microbiologist has come up with a technique that allows the selective enrichment of Pseudomonas strains. Using her technique, which has already been patented, Egamberdieva is able to isolate from the soil only beneficial root-stimulating bacteria. After testing the bacteria on the plants' roots, Egamberdieva observed 10 to 15 percent yield increase. She hopes to apply this technique to boost the yield of economically important crop varieties in Uzbekistan such as wheat, cotton, tomato and cucumber.

For more information, read the news release at: http://www.researchsea.com/html/article.php/aid/7908/cid/1/research/salt-tolerant_bacteria_improve_crop_yields__.html.