Inducing Drought Tolerance in Wheat through Exopolysaccharide-Producing Rhizobacteria

Wheat is the main staple food in world, so it backbone of security. Drought not only affects growth and development but also ultimately has a severe impact on overall productivity crop plants. Some bacteria are capable producing exopolysaccharides (EPS) as survival mechanism, along with other metabolites, which help them survive stressful conditions. The present study was conducted aim inducing drought stress tolerance wheat through EPS-producing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). In this regard, series laboratory bioassays were to isolating, characterizing, screening PGPR improving under limited water Thirty rhizobacterial strains (LEW1–LEW30) isolated from rhizosphere wheat. Ten isolates ability quantitatively tested for EPS production IAA ability. Four most efficient (LEW3, LEW9, LEW16, LEW28) evaluated their quantitative polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000)-induced stress. jar experiment gnotobiotic conditions examine drought-tolerant genotypes, two varieties (Johar-16, Gold-16) selected further experiments. inoculated grown control at different levels (0, 2, 4, 6% PEG-6000). strain LEW16 showed better results root morphology seedling both varieties. maximum increase germination, parameters, percentage, diameter, surface area, colonization recorded Johar-16 by inoculating PEG-6000. Plant traits top-performing LEW16). Through 16S rRNA sequencing, these identified Chryseobacterium sp. (LEW3), Acinetobacter (LEW9), Klebsiella (LEW16), they positive phosphorous zinc solubilization well hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production. partial sequencing submitted National Center Biotechnology Information (NCBI) accession numbers MW829776, MW829777, MW829778. These recommended evaluation potential bioinoculants