Comparative plant growth promoting traits and distribution of rhizobacteria associated with heavy metals in contaminated soils

The heavy metals at high concentration are generally toxic to the plants for their metabolism and growth; therefore, interactions among metals, rhizosphere microbes and plants have attracted attention because of the biotechnological potential of microorganisms for metal removal directly from contaminated soils or the possible transference of them to the plants. The aim of this study was to compare the relationships between the physiological in vitro characteristics of rhizobacteria isolated from plant metal accumulators and their distribution relating with the heavy metals content in contaminated soils. The results of this study showed that the heavy metals present in the rhizosphere of the plant species analyzed, decrease the microbial biomass and content of heavy metals caused a different distribution of rhizobacteria found. Gram negative rhizobacteria (90%) and gram positive rhizobacteria (10%) were isolated; all of them are metal-resistant rhizobacteria and 50% of the isolated rhizobacteria possess both traits: higher indol acetic acid and siderophore producers. The inoculation with these rhizosphere microorganisms that possess metal-tolerating ability and plant growth promoting activities, can be recommended with a practical importance for both metal-contaminated environment and plant growth promotion.

Keywords
Phytohormones; Phytoremediation; Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria; Siderophores