Bacteriology Laboratory

Biofertilizers are promising and sustainable alternatives to harmful chemical fertilizers due to their ability to increase soil yield and fertility by enhancing crop safety and development. When these biofertilizers are applied to soil, plants or seeds. Once the microbial community is established, these microorganisms can help dissolve and break down essential nutrients in the environment that would otherwise be unavailable or difficult for the crop to incorporate into the biomass.
Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that do not have a nuclear membrane. From the medical point of view, they are the main cause of the disease. In appearance, bacteria have relatively simple forms. In fact, they are complex and highly adaptable. Bacteria multiply rapidly and different species can use a wide variety of hydrocarbon substrates, including phenol, rubber, and petroleum. These organisms are widely present in both free and parasitic forms. Because they are ubiquitous and have a remarkable capacity to adapt to changing environments by spontaneous mutant selection, the importance of bacteria in any agricultural context cannot be ignored.
Among the biological sciences, microbiology is well established and related to various fields in the present era. Agricultural microbiology is a flourishing research field emerging from the intersection of general microbiology and microbial ecology into agricultural biotechnologies. The ultimate goal of agricultural microbiology is the extensive study of beneficial bacteria and fungi with important agricultural plants, thereby meeting the global demand for food in an environmentally friendly manner. Our aim is to clarify the current status and application of microbiology in modern agriculture. This chapter provides an overview of the role of microbiology in sustainable agriculture, including beneficial microorganisms, the rhizosphere, mycorrhizal fungi, phosphate solubilizing bacteria,
In this report, many research opportunities are presented in the field of food and agricultural microbiology. The backdrop to these research opportunities is a world of microorganisms that are full of threats and benefits for abundant, healthy food and related environments. Threats are caused by microbial pathogens that cause a wide range of plant and animal diseases and destroy agricultural productivity. The continuous spread and evolution of agricultural pathogens provides a new source of challenges for food productivity and safety. After the food leaves the farm, pathogens continue to cause damage and cause spoilage and, in some cases, poisoning and human and animal diseases. New vulnerabilities for agriculture are created by the global movement of agricultural products, trade policies, industrial farming practices, and the potential for the destructive release of pathogens by “bioterrorists.” In addition to threats, many benefits come from microorganisms associated with or introduced into our food, where they play an important role in bioprocessing, fermentation or as probiotics.
Science and technology emerging from microbiology research can help meet these challenges for food and agriculture. Knowledge of microbial pathogens leads to tools for disease surveillance and prevention. Beneficial microbes may be used to protect agriculture, preserve food, increase the value of food products, and provide general health and wellness benefits. The complex interactions between microbes and agricultural systems need to be better understood to facilitate optimal use of beneficial microorganisms and maximal control of pathogens.
Opportunities in microbiology research are the gateway to maintaining and improving agriculture and food production, quality and safety. Multidisciplinary research should be conducted to capitalize on advances in different disciplines, such as genomics, nanotechnology, and computational biology. Research on the interactions of animal and plant hosts with pathogens and beneficial microbes is essential for disease prevention and encouraging mutual interactions. On a more holistic scale, the interactions that occur between organisms in a microbial community need to be studied in order to achieve a healthy balance between the highly managed ecosystems of industrial agriculture and the unmanaged ecosystems of the natural environment. Ultimately, research is critical to determining why pathogens continue to emerge and where and how newly developed technologies should be used.

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is an essential element required to build biomass and is commonly seen as a limiting nutrient in agricultural systems. The atmospheric form of nitrogen cannot be used by plants and must be converted to a form that can be directly absorbed by plants. This problem is solved with biological nitrogen fixers. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, also known as diazotrophs, can be divided into three groups:
  • Free-living (e.g. Azotobacter, Anabaena and Clostridium),
  • Symbiotic (e.g. Rhizobium and Trichodesmium) these organisms have the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen into biological forms that can be absorbed by plants and incorporated into biomass.
  • An important nitrogen-fixing symbiosis is the symbiosis between rhizobium and leguminous plants. Rhizobium has been shown to contribute more than 300 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year in various leguminous plants and its application in agricultural products has been shown to increase crop height, seed germination and nitrogen content in the plant.

The use of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in agriculture can help reduce dependence on artificial nitrogen fertilizers.

Microbial fertilizers

Biofertilizers

Today, good agricultural production is everyone’s need because it directly affects our food plate, in such a situation, we can understand the importance of a good agricultural product. There are many small or underdeveloped countries whose economy depends on agricultural production. According to World Bank data, agricultural production contributes about 4 percent to the global economy and GDP. A healthy agricultural production depends on various factors such as quality of soil, water, fertilizers, skilled labor, etc. Fertilizer is the most important thing that affects agricultural production. Fertilizer is a chemical or natural substance that is useful in crop production. However, in order to achieve fast agricultural yield, we usually use chemical fertilizers which are very responsive to biofertilizers, but chemical fertilizers are not environmentally friendly as biofertilizers.
Biofertilizers are the best alternative to chemical fertilizers. Biofertilizers are substances containing microorganisms that, when added to the soil, increase fertility and promote plant growth. Biofertilizers are also environmentally friendly fertilizers because they do not harm the environment and are also useful in restoring the initial fertility of the soil.

The importance of biofertilizers:

There are many reasons that determine the importance of biofertilizers: they improve soil texture, increase plant yield, and prevent the growth of harmful bacteria and fungi. Biofertilizers are environmentally friendly fertilizers (they do not harm the environment) and are affordable. Even in semi-arid conditions, biofertilizers are successful.

Types of biofertilizers:

Biofertilizers are divided into several categories based on different types of bacteria based living organisms:

  • Azospirillum
  • Azotobacter
  • mycorrhiza
  • Potassium-solubilizing bacteria
  • Phosphate solubilizing bacteria
  • Zinc dissolving bacteria
  • Sulfur dissolving bacteria
Rhizobium is one of the best biological fertilizers widely used in agriculture. There are different types of biofertilizers and they have unique characteristics with different target products. Find out more about it below. It is a combination of three different types of bacteria. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
NPK biofertilizer increases nitrogen uptake and also produces plant growth hormones and vitamins. It helps in germination, early greening and root growth of the plant.
Biofertilizer increases the availability of micronutrients (such as manganese, magnesium, iron, Mo, B, zinc, and copper) from the soil to the plant, resulting in faster root growth and nutrient absorption, and increased resistance/tolerance against diseases and drought. Gives. Biofertilizers play an important role in dissolving potassium from insoluble forms by producing organic acids that help absorb other elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, etc.
Biofertilizer increases the product’s resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and improves the quality of fruits and grains. Biofertilizer increases yield and quality by 20-30%. Aztobacter (biofertilizers) Aztobacter is a nitrogen-fixing bacterium (biofertilizer) and is widely used for sugar crops. Azotobacter forms colonies inside the crop tissues and produces enough nitrogen in the crops. It also produces growth hormones that support root and stem growth.

Advantages of Azotobacter:

  • Improves soil fertility.
  • Nature-friendly solutions without chemicals.
  • Encouraging root proliferation and root density and branching, which leads to increased absorption of minerals and water and plant growth.

 

Azospirillum is also a type of nitrogen fixing biological inoculation and is used as a biological fertilizer. Azospirillum also produces a large number of biologically active substances such as vitamins, nicotinic acid, indole acetic acids and gibberellins.

Benefits of Azospirillum:

  • Stimulate plant growth
  • Useful in nitrogen fixation
  • It helps in better germination
  • It helps in better root growth

Mycorrhiza:

Mycorrhiza is a type of fungus that is used in agricultural products as biofertilizer. Mycorrhizal fungi create a symbiotic relationship with plant roots to increase the absorption of phosphorus, water and minerals from the soil. It also protects against diseases that attack root organisms. Mycorrhizae also restore the original soil fertility.

Mycorrhiza benefits:

  • It improves the absorption of nutrients from the soil.
  • Improves plant growth.
  • Improves stress management.
  • It helps to grow healthier and denser roots.

Phosphate dissolving bacteria:

 

Phosphate solubilizing bacteria or PSB are able to dissolve inorganic phosphate from insoluble components. PSB is widely used as a biofertilizer for plant growth and nutrient use efficiency. Soil microbes play an important role in regulating the dynamics of organic matter decomposition and the availability of plant nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and other nutrients.
Advantages of phosphate dissolving bacteria:
In addition to P2O5, increase the availability of micronutrient elements such as manganese, magnesium, iron, Mo, B, zinc and copper from the soil.
Stimulating rapid root growth to absorb water and nutrients. Production of organic acids such as malic, succinic, fumaric, citric, tartaric acid and acetic acid that accelerate P2O5 and increase maturity and yield. Due to rapid cell growth, it increases disease resistance and drought tolerance in plants. Compatibility with the plant along with other beneficial microbes. Reduce the need for phosphate fertilizers by 25-30%. Potassium-soluble bacteria, potassium-soluble bacteria is a biofertilizer that plays an important role in the formation of monoacids and proteins.
These are produced by ammonium ions and then absorbed from the soil by the roots. It also helps plants absorb other elements that activate several enzymes.
Advantages of potassium dissolving bacteria:

 

  • It helps increase potassium in all types of soil and increases crop yield by 15-20%.
  • It increases the resistance of the product against different weather conditions, improves the size of the fruit and seeds and the quality of the products.
  • It also helps in photosynthesis properly.

Application of biological fertilizers:

Soil purification: Biofertilizers can be used for soil purification because it restores the original fertility of the soil. To purify the soil, we mixed organic fertilizers with compost and kept the mixture overnight. Then we spread this mixture in the soil where the seeds are to be planted.
Seed treatment: We can also use organic fertilizers for seed treatment. For the seed treatment process, the seeds are soaked in a mixture of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers. After that, the seeds dry and harden as quickly as possible. These are some of the most important types of biofertilizers that are widely used in agricultural crops. Therefore, biofertilizers are the need of the day. They are stable, reliable and environmentally friendly as well.