Poor-Soil Rhizosphere Enriched with Different Microbial Activities Influence the Availability of Base Elements

Understanding the ecology of soil rhizosphere is essential to enhancing soil ecosystem and plants productivity. Poor-soil properties can limit rhizosphere microbial composition, interactions and plants productivity. Furthermore, the presence of plant exudates and microbial interation can change the rhizosphere dynamic. In the current study, we used two types of soils, rich nutrient soil represented by potting-soil and poor-soil represented with nutrient-deprived poor-soil. The two types of soil were inoculated with five microbial combinations using plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB, Pseudomonas fluorescens) and mycorrhiza, and planted with two-day-old sorghum bicolor and Setaria italica (Foxtail millet) seedlings. Soil elements analyses were conducted 60 days after planting. The availability of exchangeable base alkali elements (Ca, Mg, Na) were measured and compared. Na was exclusively affected by PGPB inoculation in both soil types. Ca and Mg increased highest when associated with arbuscular inoculation, exclusively, in comparison to association with PGPB or Ectomycorrhiza in both soil types when planted with sorghum. Whereas, the same elements Ca and Mg, increased highest when associated with arbuscular mycorrhiza inoculation whether combined with PGPB or ectomycorrhiza when in soil planted with Setaria italica. The mycorrhiza increased Ca and Mg availability when combined with PGPB. Naincrease was associated only with PGPB inoculation solely in both soil types. The use of arbuscular mycorrhiza inoculation combined with PGPB is ecofriendly method to enrich rhizosphere in poor-soil and eliminate the need to use any chemical fertilizers.

Plant Growth-Prompting Bacteria Influenced Metabolites of <i>Zea mays var. amylacea </i>and <i>Pennisetum americanum p. </i>in a Species-Specific Manner

Poor soil is one of the agricultural world’s principal challenges, inciting the use of chemical fertilizer’s to improve overall soil quality. However, the use of chemical fertilizer has significant and cascading environmental consequences. Therefore, the use of beneficial microbes’ inoculation in treating poor soil is a considerably ecofriendly sustainable solution. In the current study, we supplemented nutrient-deprived soil with plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB), Pseudomonas fluorescens. The bacterial inoculations of Pseudomonas fluorescenswere added to the poor soil following two days post-sowing of Zea mays var. amylacea and Pennisetumamericanum p. seedlings. Metabolite analyses were conducted two months after treatment for both shoots and roots using nuclear magnetic resonance method (NMR). The data indicated significant changes in 19 metabolites relative to control in both plants shoot and roots. Among these metabolites, 7 were upregulated in roots of Zea mays var. amylacea, and 9 metabolites were upregulated in roots of Pennisetum americanum p. The PGPB enhanced sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose) and amino acids (glutamate, alanine and succinate) in roots, while down regulating in shoots of Pennisetum americanum p. The Pseudomonas fluorescens induced, predominantly,Aminoacyl-tRNA related metabolite, and Alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolite biosynthesis in Zea mays var. amylacea), whereas PGPB induced metabolites in Pennisetum americanum p., dominated by up regulated carbohydrate related (starch and sucrose) metabolites. The difference in some metabolic response between the two plants indicated that PGPB influence has a species-specific manner.

Genetic screening for quality-of-life improvement and post-genetic testing consideration in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi genome project started in 2013 with a great hope to improve medical care and disease prevention.Among the genes are those related to nutrition and fitness that can optimize an individual’s lifestyle.Our aim was to review the knowledge and acceptance of nutrition and fitness genetic testing to enhance the quality of life among the population of Saudi Arabia.For the study an electronic questionnaire consisting of 27 questions was prepared,and it was answered by 302 respondents.The respondents’demographics showed about 50% of respondents were aged 18-25 years and about 50% of respondents were aged 26-60 years.More than 50% of respondents were interested in having a genetic test to enhance their health,while 40% were interested in having a genetic test to enhance their fitness.Less than 50% of respondents had an understanding of the effects of coffee,macronutrition and micronutrition,elements,and enzyme activity.These results represented a contribution to the discussion on the relevance of genetic testing validity and acceptance among the population of Saudi Arabia.The results might help in producing specific guidelines on genetic testing and genomic analysis and help in the implementation of fitness and future health plans in cooperation with Saudi genome projects.Future study will focus on population structure and genetic frequency related to specific diets or fitness.