Potential Use of Iranian Rhizobial Strains As Plant Growthpromoting Rhizobacteria (Pgpr) and Effects of Selected Strains on Growth Characteristics of Wheat, Com and Alfalfa

Many agricultural researches have been performed to improve soil productivity. nitrogen (n) and phosphorus (p) are essen tial elements which are utilized by the plants in large amounts . phosphorus can be provided by applying chemical fertilizers . microorganisms convert insoluble phosphate to the soluble form and some bacteria such asrhizobac teria play an important role in this process. this research was designed to determine the plant growth promotin g (pgp) abilities, especially phosphate solubilization, of different isolates of indigenous rhizobia and their effect on growth characteristics of wheat, com and alfalfa. 446 isolates belonging to different species of rhizobiawere examined regarding inorganic and organic p solubilization, siderophore, auxin (iaa and homologes), 1aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylate (acc) - deaminase and hydrogen cyanide (hcn) production. it was found that 7% of the strains could produce hcn, 86% siderophores and 74% iaa and 44% were able to solubilize phosphorus.8 rhizobial isolates were found as superior plant growth promoting rhizobacterial (pgpr) strains . green house experiments using these strains evaluated the promoting effects of different strains on legume (alfalfa ) and nonlegume (wheat and com) plants. total biomass to the above mentioned plants was determined and the amount of n, pand iron (fe) in shoots were also measured . the results were analyzed by the rcbd contrast method using sas software v6.l2. in conclusion, the green house experiment showed that pb1 and a mixture of 4 plant growth stimulat ing rhizobacterial strains are the best suited as growth promoting inoculants.