Plant species-specificity and effects of bioinoculants and fertilization on plant performance for nickel phytomining

Aims

To investigate the effects of fertilization and bacterial inoculation on the growth, health and Ni phytoextraction capacity of three Ni-hyperaccumulators, Odontarrhena bracteata, O. inflata and O. serpyllifolia.

Methods

Plants were grown for three months in serpentine soil fertilized with inorganic NPK or amended with cow manure and inoculated with five rhizobacterial strains (previously isolated from O. serpyllifolia). Shoot and root dry weight (DW) yields, Ni accumulation and removal, nutritive status and stress indicators were determined.

Results

Plants grown in manure-amended soil showed significantly higher DW yields, improved nutritive status and higher total Ni phytoextracted. Some bacterial inoculants enhanced Ni removal due to the stimulation in growth and/or increase in shoot Ni concentration but this depended on the plant species, soil type and inoculant. Pseudoarthrobacter oxydans strain SBA82 enhanced shoot DW yield of all three Odontarrhena spp. in at least one soil type. Paenarthrobacter sp. strain LA44 and Stenotrophomonas sp. strain MA98 promoted growth of O. serpyllifolia and O. bracteata. Inoculated plants showing growth promotion presented lower activities of antioxidative enzymes, and concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and H₂O₂, indicating a protective effect of these inoculants on the plants.

Conclusion

Rhizobacterial inoculants applied in combination with manure can improve plant growth and health, and Ni phytoextraction, in some hyperaccumulating Odontarrhena spp.