Enhancing Drought Tolerance in Sorghum Plants through Bacterial Inoculation: A Study on Water Retention and Stomatal Conductance

The study evaluates the impact of moisture stress tolerant bacterial inoculants on the relative water content and stomatal conductance of sorghum leaves under drought conditions. Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that adversely affects majority of the world’s crop growth and productivity. The relative water content (RWC) and stomatal conductance (SC) in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, L.) leaves were assessed under water stress condition by sorghum seed priming with Serratia marcescens strain L1SC8, Pseudomonas putida strain L3SC1, Enterobacter cloacae strain L1CcC1 and Serratia marcescens strain L2FmA4. RWC was higher in leaves of seed priming plants. Water stress resulted in decreased RWC of plant leaves. Seed priming with Serratia marcescens strain L1SC8 showed higher RWC over untreated control followed by Enterobacter cloacae strain L1CcC1. However SC decreased in seed primed stressed plants leaves compared to non-primed stressed plant leaves. Pseudomonas putida strain L3SC1 showed lowest SC as compared to other treatments and control. All the bacterial inoculant increases the RWC. The increase in RWC was statistically significant over control. Thus, the moisture stress tolerant bacterial inoculants sustain the drought condition by increasing the RWC in plant. Thus, seed priming with moisture stress tolerant bacterial cultures increase the RWC while decrease the SC which was the major attributing factors for drought tolerance in sorghum. The findings provide valuable insights into potential strategies for enhancing drought tolerance in crop plants, with implications for agricultural productivity in water- stressed environments. Additionally, the study contributes to the understanding of the role of microbial inoculation in inducing physiological changes in plants to cope with water stress, which is a topic of increasing interest in agricultural research.