Exploring the potential of halotolerant bacteria from coastal regions to mitigate salinity stress in wheat: physiological, molecular, and biochemical insights

Salinity stress, a significant global abiotic is caused by various factors such as irrigation with saline water, fertilizer overuse, and drought conditions, resulting in reduced agricultural production sustainability. In this study, we investigated the use of halotolerant bacteria from coastal regions characterized high salinity solution to address major environmental challenge stress. To identify effective microbial strains, isolated 81 halophilic sources, plants, rhizosphere, algae, lichen, sea sediments, water. We screened these bacterial strains for their plant growth-promoting activities, indole acetic acid (IAA), phosphate solubilization, siderophore production. Similarly, evaluation isolates through bioassay revealed that approximately 22% endophytic 14% rhizospheric exhibited favorable influence on seed germination seedling growth. Among tested isolates, GREB3, GRRB3, SPSB2 displayed improvement all growth parameters compared control. As result, three were utilized evaluate efficacy alleviating negative impacts salt stress (150 mM, 300 seawater (SW)) wheat plants. The result showed shoot length significantly increased plants inoculated up 15% (GREB3), 16% (GRRB3), 24% (SPSB2), respectively, strain was particularly promoting All more promotory effect root than length. Under GRRB3 impacted length, leading boost 6%, 5%, 3.8% at 150 levels, respectively. also positively plant’s secondary metabolites antioxidant enzymes. study identified WDREB 2 gene highly upregulated under whereas DREB 6 downregulated. These findings demonstrate potential beneficial microbes sustainable approach mitigate agriculture.