Exploring the impact of plant growth-promoting bacteria in alleviating stress on Aptenia cordifolia subjected to irrigation with recycled water in multifunctional external green walls.

BACKGROUND: Rapid urbanization and population growth exert a substantial impact on the accessibility of drinking water resources, underscoring the imperative for wastewater treatment and the reuse of non-potable water in agriculture. In this context, green walls emerge as a potential solution to augment the purification of unconventional waters, simultaneously contributing to the aesthetic appeal and enjoyment of urban areas. This study aims to optimize water management in green walls by investigating the impact of bacterial strains on the biochemical properties and performance of the ornamental accumulator plant, Aptenia cordifolia, grown with various unconventional water sources. The experiments were designed as split plots based on a completely randomized block design with three replications. The main factor was recycled water with three levels (gray water, wastewater from the Kashfroud region of Mashhad, and urban water (control)). The sub-factor included different bacterial strains at four levels, composed of various bacteria combinations, (B1: Psedoumonas flucrecens + Azosporillum liposferum + Thiobacillus thioparus + Aztobactor chorococcum, B2: Paenibacillus polymyxa + Pseudomonas fildensis + Bacillus subtilis + Achromobacter xylosoxidans + Bacillus licheniform, B3: Pseudomonas putida + Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans + Bacillus velezensis + Bacillus subtilis + Bacillus methylotrophicus + Mcrobacterium testaceum, and the control level without bacterial application (B0). RESULT: The findings revealed significant differences at the 5% probability level across all morphophysiological traits, including plant height, the number and length of lateral branches, growth index, and plant coverage. Moreover, superior morphophysiological traits were observed in plants cultivated in substrates inoculated with wastewater irrigation. Substrates inoculated with bacteria exhibited the highest relative water content (RWC) and chlorophyll levels, coupled with the lowest relative saturation deficit (RSD), electrolyte leakage (EL), and carotenoid levels. Furthermore, plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), from a biochemical perspective, were associated with increased carbohydrates, total protein, and anthocyanin. They also contributed to controlling oxidative stress caused by free radicals by enhancing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, such as guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and peroxidase (POD), while reducing catalase enzyme (CAT) activity. This led to increased resistance to stress, as evidenced by a decrease in malondialdehyde and proline levels. The study concludes that the MIX B3, being both ecofriendly and economical, represents an effective strategy for mitigating the adverse effects of wastewater on plants. CONCLUSION: This study showed that plant irrigation using wastewater increases the levels of proline, phenols and oxidative stress. However, the application of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) reduced oxidative damage by increasing antioxidant activity and decreasing proline and phenol levels. These findings show the potential of bacterial treatments to improve plant growth and reduce adverse effects of recycled water irrigation.

Investigating the plant and air-quality performances of an internal green wall system under hydroponic conditions.

Internal green wall systems can be combined with building structures to bring positive impacts on people's quality of life in interior spaces. However, obtaining green wall systems to optimize the performances of these living walls still needs research works. This study was conducted to investigate the plant, and air-quality performance resulted from combining ornamental plants and growing media types in an internal green wall system. The growing media types (mixed based on volume percentage) included cocopeat, perlite, cocopeat + perlite (1v:1v) and cocopeat + perlite + vermicompost (1v:1v:1v). The ornamental species included Peperomia magnoliiaefolia, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, Aptenia cordifolia, and Carpobrotus edulis. There were significant differences among the plant species and the growing media types for improvement of the plant growth and morphophysiological factors. Organic-rich growing media of vermicompost along with perlite and cocopeat, combined with Aptenia cordifolia as the species can be used to create a horticulturally sustainable internal green wall, and also improve the health index in the building interior environments.