Agave angustifolia bulbil growth in different substrates, with doses of fertigation and inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense / Crescimento de bulbos de Agave angustifolia em diferentes substratos, com doses de fertirrigação e inoculação com Azospirillum brasilense

There is little information about the production of agave plants in the nursery, so this research assessed the growth in the nursery of Agave angustifolia plants originating from inflorescence bulbils, subjected to different substrates, fertigation doses, and inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense. The bulbils were established for two months in a 50% peat-50% perlite substrate. One hundred and eighty plants were individually transferred to 3.8 dm3 pots for evaluation in an experiment with three factors: 1) type of irrigation: 1.1) water, or 1.2) fertigation with Steiner's nutrient solution (NS), NS-50%, or 1.3) NS-100%; 2) inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense, 2.1) inoculated plants, 2.2) non-inoculated plants; 3) substrate, mixtures of bovine manure (BM) + sand (S) in different proportions, Mix1: 75% BM + 25% S; Mix2: 25% BM + 75% S; Mix3: 50% BM + 50% S. Morphological characteristics were quantified for one year. The largest plants were those that were in substrates with 50% BM, and were fertirrigated with NS-100% and inoculated with Azospirillum brasiliense. The smallest plants were those established a in a substrate with the lowest manure content, irrigated with only water and without inoculation, which was respectively 71.6 and 54.10 cm high, 21 and 15.6 leaves, 76.6 and 62.2 mm in stem diameter, 84.4 and 59.8 cm in rosette diameter.

Existem poucas informações sobre a produção de agave em viveiro, portanto o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o crescimento em viveiro de Agave angustifolia provenientes de bulbilhos de inflorescência, submetidos a diferentes substratos, doses de fertirrigação e inoculação com Azospirillum brasilense. Os bulbilhos foram estabelecidos por dois meses em substrato 50% turfa-50% perlita. Cento e oitenta plantas foram transferidas individualmente para vasos de 3,8 dm3 para avaliação em um experimento com três fatores: 1) tipo de irrigação: 1.1) água ou 1.2) fertirrigação com solução nutritiva de Steiner (NS), NS-50% ou 1.3 ) NS-100%; 2) inoculação com Azospirillum brasilense, 2.1) plantas inoculadas, 2.2) plantas não inoculadas; 3) substrato, misturas de esterco bovino (BM) + areia (S) em diferentes proporções, Mix1: 75% BM + 25% S; Mix2: 25% BM + 75% S; Mix3: 50% BM + 50% S. As características morfológicas foram quantificadas por um ano. As maiores plantas foram aquelas que estavam em substrato com 50% de BM, foram fertirrigadas com NS-100% e inoculadas com Azospirillum brasiliense, enquanto as menores foram aquelas estabelecidas em substrato com menor quantidade de esterco, irrigado apenas com água e sem inoculação, que tinham respectivamente, 71,6 e 54,10 cm de altura, 21 e 15,6 folhas, 76,6 e 62,2 mm de diâmetro do caule, 84,4 e 59,8 cm de diâmetro de roseta.

Effect of plant growth-promoting bacteria on the growth and fructan production of Agave americana L

The effect of plant growth-promoting bacteria inoculation on plant growth and the sugar content in Agave americana was assessed. The bacterial strains ACO-34A, ACO-40, and ACO-140, isolated from the A. americana rhizosphere, were selected for this study to evaluate their phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. The three bacterial strains were evaluated via plant inoculation assays, and Azospirillum brasilense Cd served as a control strain. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene showed that strains ACO-34A, ACO-40 and ACO-140 were Rhizobium daejeonense, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Pseudomonas mosselii, respectively. All of the strains were able to synthesize indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), solubilize phosphate, and had nitrogenase activity. Inoculation using the plant growth-promoting bacteria strains had a significant effect (p 0.05) on plant growth and the sugar content of A. americana, showing that these native plant growth-promoting bacteria are a practical, simple, and efficient alternative to promote the growth of agave plants with proper biological characteristics for agroindustrial and biotechnological use and to increase the sugar content in this agave species.(AU)