Employment of associative bacteria for the inoculation of barley plants cultivated in soil contaminated with lead and cadmium

In laboratory experiments, the rhizobacteria Azospirillum lipoferum 137, Arthrobacter mysorens 7, Agrobacterium radiobacter 10, and Flavobacterium sp. L30 were found to have a relatively high resistance to the toxic heavy metals lead and cadmium (except that strain L30 was found to be sensitive to Cd). When introduced by means of seed bacterization, the heavy metal-resistant strains actively colonized the rhizosphere of barley plants cultivated in uncontaminated and contaminated soils. In both pot and field experiments, seed bacterization improved the growth of barley plants and the uptake of nutrient elements from soil contaminated with Pb and Cd. The bacterization also prevented the accumulation of Pb and Cd in barley plants, thereby mitigating the toxic effect of these heavy metals on the plants.