Enterobacter hormaechei Wu15-loaded biochar enhances the ice plant growth by improving saline soil quality

Considering that the current proportion of saline-alkaline land worldwide is relatively high, it is vital to find a low-consumption and high-efficiency method for saline-alkaline land restoration, while at the same time, mitigating environmental contamination and optimizing agroforestry waste management.

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) Wu15 was extracted and inoculated onto biochar to prepare BC-Wu15, and the effects of biochar on soil quality and plant growth were verified by potting experiments.

Soil quality and fertility of saline soils was proved to be improved. There was an increase in soil nutrient contents (incl. nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)) as well as in organic matter (OM) content and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The synergistic effect of biochar and Wu15 led to an increase by 79.95% and 81.52% in the ice plant’s chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b levels.

The result indicated the tightly packed vesicles were useful for transporting excessive salt in the ice plant. Redundancy analysis (RDA) confirmed that the improvement in plant growth was positively correlated with enhanced soil quality. This study provides useful insights into the utilization of BC-Wu15 as an effective method for amending saline soils and increasing crop yields, demonstrating the potential for the combined utilization of biochar and PGPR.