Biofertilizer is a substance comprising of micro-organisms (living) which, when applied on plant parts or soil provides nutrition to the plants and promotes their growth. It is an environmentally sound way of providing nutrients to the plant instead of harmful chemical-based formulations.
Published in Chapter:
Bacterial Siderophores for Enhanced Plant Growth
Himanshi Verma (University of Delhi, India), Meghna Jindal (University of Delhi, India), and Shabir A. Rather (Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 18
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7062-3.ch011
Abstract
The soil is a repository of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa. Among these, more bacteria are found, most of which are located in the rhizosphere region of the soil. The rhizosphere, under the direct control of plant root secretions, is the complex, narrow area of the soil. It is densely populated with microorganisms (mostly bacteria) that interact with the plants. These interactions influence the growth of the plant directly or indirectly. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) inhabiting the rhizosphere colonizes the plant roots and increases plant growth via different mechanisms. Iron is an essential micronutrient required by almost all life forms including plants. Oxidation of Fe2+ (soluble) to Fe3+ (insoluble) due to the soil's aerobic conditions limits its bioavailability. Siderophores are selective low molecular weight ferric ion chelators secreted by bacteria to acquire iron from the surrounding. They bind to iron (Fe3+) with high specificity as well as high affinity. By helping the insolubilisation of iron, it promotes the growth and yield.