TABLE 3.
Effect of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria on root vigor index and morphological traits of hydroponically grown wheat varieties.
| Wheat varieties | Treatments | Root length (cm) | Root surface area (cm2) | Root diameter (mm) | Root volume (cm3) | Area of projection (cm2) | Number of root tips | Number of forks | No. of crossings |
| Variety 1 | |||||||||
| Negative control | 418 ± 20.07 CD | 34.96 ± 1.87 C | 0.318 ± 0.02 CD | 0.25 ± 0.02 D | 09.23 ± 0.88 B | 387 ± 19.64 C | 1934 ± 154 D | 0.32 ± 0.02 CD | |
| Consortium-1 | 549 ± 25.45 AB | 53.97 ± 2.75 A | 0.371 ± 0.02 A | 0.48 ± 0.01 AB | 17.66 ± 0.47 A | 827 ± 30.96 A | 3207 ± 160 AB | 0.48 ± 0.01 AB | |
| Positive control | 557 ± 26.57A | 52.22 ± 2.08 AB | 0.358 ± 0.02 AB | 0.41 ± 0.02 BC | 17.15 ± 0.90 A | 686 ± 33.43 AB | 3129 ± 960 ABC | 0.41 ± 0.02 BC | |
| Variety 2 | |||||||||
| Negative control | 341 ± 16.96 D | 37.09 ± 1.63 C | 0.313 ± 0.20 D | 0.28 ± 0.02 D | 11.81 ± 0.90 B | 406 ± 20.50 C | 2358 ± 118 BCD | 0.26 ± 0.01 D | |
| Consortium-2 | 470 ± 24.99 ABC | 58.65 ± 2.26 A | 0.375 ± 0.20 A | 0.55 ± 0.02 A | 18.67 ± 0.53 A | 795 ± 39.53 A | 3828 ± 191 A | 0.54 ± 0.03 A | |
| Positive control | 502 ± 28.27 ABC | 51.56 ± 2.03AB | 0.347 ± 0.02 B | 0.45 ± 0.03 AB | 16.41 ± 0.87 A | 687 ± 34.18 AB | 3113 ± 960 ABC | 0.45 ± 0.03 AB | |
| Variety 3 | |||||||||
| Negative control | 338 ± 18.98 D | 40.00 ± 2.07 BC | 0.334 ± 0.02 BC | 0.32 ± 0.02 CD | 12.73 ± 0.69 B | 379 ± 19.97 C | 2171 ± 108 CD | 0.29 ± 0.02 D | |
| Consortium-3 | 458 ± 22.27 BC | 56.03 ± 2.10 A | 0.371 ± 0.02 A | 0.50 ± 0.02 AB | 18.35 ± 0.90 A | 706 ± 35.22 AB | 3036 ± 152 ABC | 0.50 ± 0.02 AB | |
| Positive control | 512 ± 31.40 ABC | 53.61 ± 2.78 A | 0.351 ± 0.02 AB | 0.48 ± 0.02 AB | 17.52 ± 0.86 A | 590 ± 29.77 B | 3001 ± 130 ABC | 0.48 ± 0.03 AB |
Effect of PSB inoculations on root morphology parameters. Seeds were inoculated with PSB in Hoagland solution in hydroponics and harvested at the 45th day. All values are an average of six biological replicates. ± represents standard deviation. Means followed by the same letter differ non-significantly at p = 0.05 according to LSD. Variety 1: Faisalabad-08, Variety 2: Fakhr-e-Sarhad, Variety 3: Benazir-13.