Evaluation of Bacillus Strains for Plant Growth Promotion and Predictability of Efficacy by In Vitro Physiological Traits
Table 3
Comparison of twelve Bacillus strains for effects on corn shoot and root growth in greenhouse pot experiments, with the three strains having the highest measurements for each parameter indicated with shading.
Strain
Shoot height (cm)
Shoot fresh weight (g)
Root fresh weight (g)
FIT3 (%)w
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Bacillus acidiceler R228
46
47bax
40a
6.0
6.0bc
3.2ab
3.2b
3.5ab
0.9
22
B. megaterium R181
51
48ab
40a
8.0
6.5abc
3.0ab
4.9a
3.2ab
1.1
56
B. megaterium R232
50
48ab
35cde
7.0
6.6abc
2.5abcd
3.4b
3.1b
1.3
44
B. pumilus R174
49
47b
33cde
7.0
6.0bc
2.4bcd
3.5b
3.1b
0.9
11
B. pumilus R183
48
47b
40ab
7.0
5.5bc
3.1ab
3.6b
3.2ab
1.1
33
B. pumilus R190
—
46b
35bcde
—
4.8c
2.5abcd
—
2.8b
1.0
0
B. safensis R173
44
48ab
36abcd
6.0
6.4bc
2.9ab
3.1b
3.9ab
1.6
22
B. safensis R176
—
47b
37abc
—
5.7bc
2.7abc
—
3.3ab
1.0
0
B. simplex R180
—
47b
41a
—
5.9bc
3.2a
—
3.2b
1.5
50
Lysinibacillus fusiformis R198
45
48ab
36abcd
6.0
6.0bc
2.5abcd
2.7b
3.5ab
1.2
0
Paenibacillus cineris R177
47
50ab
37abc
7.0
6.9ab
2.7abcd
3.7b
3.9ab
0.5
44
P. graminis R200
—
53a
37abcd
—
8.4a
2.6abcd
—
4.3a
0.9
50
Control
43
33c
31e
5
2.7d
1.9d
3.6b
1.5c
0.5
NAy
ANOVA P
0.081
<0.001
0.002
0.224
0.001
0.042
0.014
0.005
0.614
NA
wFIT3 = frequency in top 3 strains category. xNumbers followed by the same letter in each column are not significantly different at α = 0.05 according to LSD test. yNA = Not applicable. — = no data or strain was not tested.