Plant Growth and Microbiota Structural Effects of Rhizobacteria Inoculation on Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King [Meliaceae]) under Nursery Conditions

Swietenia macrophylla is a tropical timber species of ecological and economic importance. However, its slow vegetative growth root development in nurseries strongly limit production. This study evaluated the effect 10 rhizobacteria strains during early stages production S. macrophylla. Superficially disinfected seeds were inoculated with under commercial nursery conditions. Inoculation was complemented by initial fertilization without regulators, fungicides, or bactericides. The results indicate that induce different responses plants. Significant differences plant biomass architecture found. Treatments Bacillus sp., polyfermenticus, siamensis strains; showed an increase up to 41% (dry weight). Plants increased 30% when siamensis. All identified as members genus spp., their presence three months after inoculation assessed 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon massive sequencing. We found sp. only present treatments, suggesting bacteria could establish themselves successfully part microbiota. These support advantages using PGPRs tree