THE ROLE OF PLANT GROWTH-PROMOTING RHIZOBACTERIA (PGPR) IN STIMULATING THE GROWTH OF WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.) IN MEKNES REGION, MOROCCO

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) play a paramount role in stimulating plant growth, in the absence of any infection, by increasing both above and below ground surfaces of the plant, boosting root elongation and accelerating seedling development. These improvements are primarily due to better and more efficient nutrient uptakes, the production of phytohormones and the development of induced resistance. In this work, 10 PGPR bacterial strains were applied to 30 wheat plants under greenhouse conditions in order to assess their impacts on plant growth. Then, DNA sequencing experiments were performed with a view to classify the above-mentioned strains. This study demonstrated the ability of various strains of Bacillus sp. to boost both shoot and root lengths of tested wheat compared to PGPR free plants. On the other hand, Pantoea agglomerans bacterial strains led to satisfactory results in terms of chlorophyll content and the fresh weight of wheat. Finally, the isolated bacterial strains from DNA sequencing experiments were closely related to Paenibacillus brasiliensis (2025-11), Pantoea agglomerans (2074-1), Bacillus cereus (2026-2), Bacillus cereus (2027-2), Serratia proteamaculans (2025-1), Pantoea agglomerans (2066-7), Acinetobacter (2077-5) and Bacillus sp. (2015-1).