Metabolic diversity of edaphic microorganisms associated with corn cultivation in the Yaqui Valley, Sonora

Abstract

In the Yaqui Valley, like other sites with intensive agriculture, soils have been generated with low content of organic matter (< 1.5%), high levels of erosion due to wind events, saline or alkaline soils and low efficiency of fertilizer use. Therefore, new technologies are necessary to maintain the sustainability of the agricultural system through rational exploitation of natural resources and preserving the environment. One of these technologies is the application of biofertilizers based on microorganisms that promote plant growth, which have beneficial effects on the growth and health of plants. Therefore, the objective of this work was to isolate and metabolically characterize edaphic microorganisms associated with the cultivation of corn in said agricultural area. The isolated microorganisms were characterized based on their ability to synthesize indoles, produce siderophores and solubilize phosphates, as well as the presence of ACC deaminase and hemolytic activity. The 96% of isolates synthesized indoles, 78% had the ability to produce siderophores and only 31% solubilized phosphates. Sixty-six promising strains were selected, of which 73 had ACC deaminase activity and 64 were non-hemolytic. Finally, growth promotion trials were carried out with the individual inoculation of 7 bacteria (22B45, 11B20, 53A2, 52B4, 22A67, 13B41 and 41B1), promoting the development of plants with some strains, mainly with the 53A2 bacteria that produced increases greater than 50% in the aerial dry weight and diameter of the stem in the inoculated plants.