SUMMARY Thirty strains of bacteria were evaluated for their effect on germination and growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. Longifolia). For germination, highly significant differences were found among the effects of the treatments.... more
SUMMARY Thirty strains of bacteria were evaluated for their effect on germination and growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. Longifolia). For germination, highly significant differences were found among the effects of the treatments. The strain Hafnia alvei P-3 increased germination more than 36.5% relative to the control. In contrast, the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains 7PS and 11PS inhibited germination. The growth of the plant was promoted by all of the inoculating strains except H. alvei P-25, which had the same effect as the control. The largest effect on growth was obtained with the RIB strain (unidentified), which increased fresh weight by 277%, dry weight by 371%, leaf area by 240% and root volume by 300%. The results suggest that the growth-promoting bacteria are potentially useful in the production of vegetable seedlings.
Index words: Rhizosphere, rhizobacteria, isolation, propagation.
