Wheat (Tritium aestivum) is the primary food of Pakistan.Salinity is a blockade towards growing a sustainable food production system and necessitates environment management. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria can ameliorate abiotic stressors through induced salt tolerance. PGPR having ACC deaminase activity can improve plant performance by minimizing the effects of ACC and endogenous ethylene that limit plant growth under salt stress. Plants grown from seeds inoculated with PGPR strains having ACC deaminase are comparatively more tolerant to salt stress. The study was carried out at Soil Salinity Research Institute, PindiBhattian to investigate the impact of PGPR (Plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria) on wheat grown in salt affected field. The design was Randomized complete block with three replications. Wheat seeds Cv. Faisalbad-2008 were inoculated with rhizobacteria strains which were: Thal-8, WM-14 and WM-10 during 2015-16 Inoculation with rhizobial strains that provide ACC-deaminase activity proved a useful move toward for alleviating the stress induced by ethylene and accordingly improving the growth and yield of wheat in the presence of high salinity stress. Decline in sodium uptake following seed inoculation with different rhizobial strains for wheat grown on salt- affected lands is a constructive possibility to reclaim salt stress biologically.

1. Rhizobacteria containing ACC-deaminase confer salt tolerance to wheat (Triticumaestivum) grown on salt-affected field
IJPBCS
Rhizobacteria containing ACC-deaminase confer salt
tolerance to wheat (Triticumaestivum) grown on salt-
affected field
*Muhammad Arshadullah1, Syed Ishtiaq Hyder2, Imdad Ali Mahmood3, Tariq Sultan4,
Muhammad Jamil5
1,2,3,4Land Resources Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road, Islamabad-45500, Pakistan
5Soil salinity Research Institute, PindiBhattian. Punjab,Pakistan
Wheat (Tritium aestivum) is the primary food of Pakistan.Salinity is a blockade towards growing
a sustainable food production system and necessitates environment management. Plant growth
promoting rhizobacteria can ameliorate abiotic stressors through induced salt tolerance. PGPR
having ACC deaminase activity can improve plant performance by minimizing the effects of ACC
and endogenous ethylene that limit plant growth under salt stress. Plants grown from seeds
inoculated with PGPR strains having ACC deaminase are comparatively more tolerant to salt
stress. The study was carried out at Soil Salinity Research Institute, PindiBhattian to investigate
the impact of PGPR (Plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria) on wheat grown in salt affected field.
The design was Randomized complete block with three replications. Wheat seeds Cv. Faisalbad-
2008 were inoculated with rhizobacteria strains which were: Thal-8, WM-14 and WM-10 during
2015-16 Inoculation with rhizobial strains that provide ACC-deaminase activity proved a useful
move toward for alleviating the stress induced by ethylene and accordingly improving the growth
and yield of wheat in the presence of high salinity stress. Decline in sodium uptake following seed
inoculation with different rhizobial strains for wheat grown on salt- affected lands is a constructive
possibility to reclaim salt stress biologically.
Keywords: Ethylene, Rhizobial strains, Salinity, Salt tolerance, Wheat growth
INTRODUCTION
The world food supply must be augumented by 70%-
almost 100% in developing countries—to nourish the world
population estimated by the UN to reach of more than nine
billion people globallyby 2050 (FAO, 2011). Thus, the
international food production should be gradually
increased in order to attain the predictable need for food.
The past decades have witnessed an extraordinary
progress in food production from on just about the same
area of the land, as a result of crop breeding accompanied
with advances in agronomy and management practices.
Staple crop production is globally vulnerable to a number
of problems, such as abiotic stress being fed by climate
change, erosion of natural resources, accelerated soil
depletion, and land degradation. Therefore, the challenge
to feed at world's growing population necessitates the
agricultural production be expanded into regions with
saline soils.
Salty soils are abiotic factors with immense consequences
on world agriculture (FAOSTAT, 2008). The detection of
tolerant crops would be an efficient approach to surmount
saline stress. Salinity disturbs both physiological and
biochemical processes of the plants and decreases
production considerably.
*Corresponding Author: Muhammad Arshadullah, Land
Resources Research Institute, National Agricultural Research
Centre, Park Road, Islamabad-45500, Pakistan. Email:
arshad_pak786@yahoo.com
International Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science
Vol. 4(2), pp. 256-260, July, 2017. © www.premierpublishers.org.ISSN: XXXX-XXXX
Research Article

2. Rhizobacteria containing ACC-deaminase confer salt tolerance to wheat (Triticumaestivum) grown on salt-affected field
Arshadullah et al. 257
Table1: Physiochemical analysis of soil
Characteristics Unit Values
pH - 8.75
Electrical conductivity dS m-1
6.87
SAR (m mol L-1
)1/2
25.25
Organic Matter % 1.3
Ca CO3 % 16.76
Sand % 20
Silt % 25
Clay % 55
Soil type - Clay Loam
Photosynthesis is the main process cerbated by salinity;
this may be due, among other things, to the closing of the
stomata. In addition, salinity reduces the capacity of the
plant to utilize water, which causes a decrease in the rate
of growth (Khanand Panda, 2008 :Munns. and James.
2003).
Salt stress is one of the most important environmental
factors that lowering crop production in arid and semiarid
regions of the world. Furthermore, water availability is also
an important factor determining crop production, and non-
conventional water resources such as brackish water and
treated sewage effluent are becoming important sources
of water supply in these regions (Yuldasheva et al., 2011).
At the present time, roughlyover 18 million hectares of
cultivated land in Iran are irrigated where salinity is one of
the major and exigentproblems. The detrimental effects of
salinity on plant growth are coupled with low osmotic
potential of soil solution, dieteticefficiencies, precise ion
toxicity, or a blend of these factors. Salinity management
through retrieval or better irrigation techniques is
frequently too costly and offers only temporary relief. The
development of salinity-tolerant cultivars is a cost-effective
technique to survive with salinity (Arzani, 2008).
Techniques for easing of salt stress include salt-resistant
cultivars, leaching surfeit soluble salts from higher to lower
soil depths, flushing soils that include soil crusts at the
surface, reducing salt by harvesting salt-accumulating
aerial plant parts in areas with limited irrigation water or
rainfall for leaching, and amelioration of saline soils under
cultivation and leaching (Bacilioet al., 2004). An
otheroption is to lighten salt stress by inoculating crop
seeds and seedlings with plant growth promoting bacteria
(PGPB). From the perspectives of crop production losses
due to the effects of abiotic stress, particularly salinity,
tolerance to stress provided by microbial inoculants
becomes more important. Useful consequence of PGPB
under salinity have been correlated to hydraulic
conductance, osmolyteaccretion, sequestering of toxic
Na+ ions , maintaining higher stomatal conductance and
improving photosynthetic efficiency (Dodd and Perez,
2012).
Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)
encompass a group of valuable bacteria that can be
initiated in the rhizoplane and rhizosphere, the
phyllosphere, or inside of plant tissues as endophytes
(Fernandez et al., 2010). PGPR increase plant growth by
direct and indirect mechanisms or a combination of both
(Siddikee et al., 2010). Indirect mechanisms include the
inhibition of pathogens through the sequestration of
siderophores, and the production of antibiotics and
extracellular hydrolytic enzymes (Swain et al., 2008).
Ethylene is produced from ACC by means of the enzyme
ACC oxidase and derivative of S-adenosylmethionine by
using enzyme ACC synthase. Ethylene is the plant growth
regulating hormone produced in response to different
stresses. PGPR from stressed environment express 1-
aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase
activity which reduces the level of ACC and endogenous
ethylene diminshing the effects of stress but also has the
effect of lowering root growth on the whole plant growth
(Shaharoonaet al., 2006). Plants inoculated with PGPR
having ACC deaminase are more tolerant to
environmental stress (Naveed et al., 2008). Keeping in
view of the bottle necks that exist in a saline environment,
a field study was planned to investigate the impact of Plant
Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria on ACC-Deaminase
activity induced salt tolerance in wheat (Triticumaestivum)
crop and determine the extent and degree to which wheat
plant growth and yield is affected with the inoculation of
different bacterial strains.
Keeping in view the contraintsof a saline environment, a
pot experiment was conducted to examine the response of
Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria for ACC-
Deaminase activity to induces alt tolerance in wheat
(Triticumaestivum) crop and determine the extent and
degree to which wheat plant growth is affected with the
inoculation of different bacterial strains.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was carried out at the Soil Salinity Research
Institute Pindi Bhattian, to investigate the impact ofof
PGPR (Plant growth promoting bacteria Rhizobacteria) on
wheat grown in a salt affected field (Table-1). The design
was Randomized complete blocks with three replications.
Wheat seeds of Faisalbad-2008 were inoculated with

3. Rhizobacteria containing ACC-deaminase confer salt tolerance to wheat (Triticumaestivum) grown on salt-affected field
Int. J. Plant Breed. Crop Sci. 258
Table 2: Effect of AC C deaminase on wheat growth under saline conditions
Treatments Plant Height (cm) # of tillers (m-2
) # of grains spike-1
Grain Yield (tha-1
)
Control 62b 630d 37c 3.36d
Thal-8 72a 698bc 40c 3.45bc
WM-14 67b 734a 42ab 4.07a
WM-10 74a 758a 50a 4.32a
LSD(0.5%) 7 31 4 0.46
Values followed by same letter(s) are statistically similar at P=0.05 level of significance
Table 3: Effect of ACC deaminse on the ionic concentration in wheat plant tissues
Treatments P (%) K (%) Na (%)
Control 0.12 d 2.17d 3.01 a
Thal-8 0.15c 2.87 a 1.78d
WM-14 0.17 a 2.67 a 2.94 a
WM-10 0.17a 2.93a 1.91 c
LSD(0.5%) 0.01 b 0.28 0.24
Values followed by same letter(s) are statistically similar at P=0.05 level of significance
rhizobacterial strains which were:Thal-8, WM-14 and WM-
10during 2015-16. A soil sample (0-20 cm depth) was
collected from the experimental site before sowing of the
crop and fertilizers application. Soil samples were
analyzed for various physicochemical properties using
standard methods (Ryan et al., 2001 and Sparks et al,
1996) and soil texture determined bytheBouyoucous
Hydrometer method Practical Agri. Chemistry Kanwar and
Chopra (1959). The data obtained were subjected to
statistical analysis using the STATISTIX statistical
software (Version 8.1) and the mean values were
compared using Least significant difference (LSD) multiple
range test P: 0.5%.(Steel and Torrie, 1997).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Rhizobial strains used in this experiment had significant
effect on plant height under naturally salt- affected fields
(Table-2). The highest plant height (74 cm) was attained
by inoculating with WM-10 which was statistically at par
with the results attained with Thal-8 and lowest height in
plant (10.97 cm) was observed in control i.e. without
inoculation that was also statistically equal to WM-9.This
proved that wheat seed inoculation with rhizobial strains
showed healthierimpacts in plant height overcoming the
undesirable effects of salt- affected soil. Number of tillers
is an other important growth parameter that directy
contibutes in crop production. Statistically significant
finding were attained in number of tillers of wheat plants
inoculated with strains grown in alt- affected fields (Table-
2). Maximum number of tillers (758m-2) was attained by
WM-10that was statistically at par with WM-14.PGPR
Thal-8 also performed better than control. PGPR that show
the ACCdeaminase activity could be accommodating in
supporting plant growth and development tunder stress
conditions by reducing the level of stress ethylene (Cheng
et al., 2007; Ali et al., 2014).
Number of grains spike-1showed significant results with the
utilization of different rhizobial strains under salt affected
soil (Table-2). Highest number of grains spike-1 (50) were
recorded after inoculation with WM-10. All the rhizobial
strains showed better results than control. Many scientist
have noted better performance in growth paramters in
wheat plants inoculated with bacteria containing ACC-
deaminase (Mayaket al., 2004; Shaharoona et al., 2006).
The end product, i.e. wheat grain yield, was significantly
affected with the utilization of rhizobial strains in saline soil.
Highest wheat grain yield (4.32tha-1
)was produced by
WM-10 inoculation, which was statistically at par with WM-
14.It is very likely that the rhizobacterial strains promoted
plant growth by lowering the endogenous inhibitory levels
of ethylene in wheat plants due to its high ACC
metabolizing ability (Kang et al., 2010). Such promising
rhizobial strains could possibly be used under field
conditions in saline environments where agriculture is
exclusively reliant on overcoming saline conditions
(Hamayun et al., 2010a). Point of view is supported by the
work of several scientists (Belimov et al., 2002; Zahir et al.,
2009).
Inoculation with different strains of bacteria having ACC
deaminase also affected physiological properties of wheat
plant growth on salt-affected soil. The concentration of P
(%) in wheat plants showed significant differences among
treatments (Table-3). Uptake of P (%) was more( 0.17%)
after WM-10 inoculation which was statistically at par with
WM-14 while the control attained the lowest position
(0.12%). The highest uptake of K (2.93 %) was in seeds
trated by WM-10 and lowest(2.17 %) was measured in
control plants (Table-3). Sodium is the most important ion
in the saline soils.Sodium ionic concentration showed
significant results among treatments (Table-3). However,
Na (%) was the highest in control and lowest when the
wheat seeds were inoculated with WM-10. The decline in
sodium ions in wheat plants with inoculation by rhizobial

4. Rhizobacteria containing ACC-deaminase confer salt tolerance to wheat (Triticumaestivum) grown on salt-affected field
Arshadullah et al. 259
strains apparently mitigates the salinity and allows the
wheat plants to perform improved conditions under salt-
affected fields. Singh et al (2013) mentioned that astute
use of chemicals along with bio fertilizers and organic
resources can be support the crop production efficiency
and soil physical parameters (Rajnish and Jha, 2016)
reported
the consequences of the theirstudy explaining that
inoculation of wheat plants with soil bacterium
Enterobacter sp. SBP-6 significantly reduces the salinity
induced osmotic stress in wheat growth and yield. SBP-6-
inoculated plants show less accumulation of toxic Na+ and
increased the uptake of K?,and therefore, are better to
maintain ionic balance. The inoculated wheat seedlings
overcame salinity stress by reducing salt-induced lipid
peroxidation, and thus, displayed defense against abiotic
stresses.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that inoculation with rhizobial strains that
make ACC-deaminase could be ausefulmove toward for
alleviating the effects ofstressinduced ethylene and
accordingly improving the growth and yield of wheat still in
the presence of high salinitystress.Decline in sodium
uptake by the presence of different rhizobial strains under
salt- affected lands is a constructive biological mechanism
to reclaim salt stress.
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Accepted 18 July, 2017
Citation: Arshadullah M, Hyder SI, Baber R, Sultan T.
Rhizobacteria containing ACC-deaminase confer salt
tolerance to wheat (Triticumaestivum) grown on salt-
affected field. International Journal of Plant Breeding and
Crop Science 4(2): 256-260.
Copyright: © 2017 Arshadullah et al. This is an open-
access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are cited.