Open AccessEffect of nanosilica and silicon sources on plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, soil nutrients and maize seed germination
Author(s) -
Karunakaran Gopalu,
Suriyaprabha Rangaraj,
Manivasakan Palanisamy,
Yuvakkumar Rathinam,
Rajendran Venkatachalam,
Prabu Periyasamy,
Kannan Narayanasamy
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
iet nanobiotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.366
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1751-875X
pISSN - 1751-8741
DOI - 10.1049/iet-nbt.2012.0048
Subject(s) - rhizobacteria , germination , husk , sodium silicate , agronomy , nutrient , population , silicate , biomass (ecology) , materials science , seed treatment , chemistry , horticulture , food science , rhizosphere , bacteria , biology , botany , composite material , genetics , demography , organic chemistry , sociology
The study was aimed at evaluating the effect of nanosilica and different sources of silicon on soil properties, total bacterial population and maize seed germination. Nanosilica was synthesised using rice husk and characterised. Silica powder was amorphous (50 nm) with >99.9% purity. Sodium silicate treated soil inhibited plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in contrast to nanosilica and other bulk sources. Surface property and effect of soil nutrient content of nanosilica treatment were improved. Colony forming unit (CFU) was doubled in the presence of nanosilica from 4 × 10 5 CFU (control) to 8 × 10 5 CFU per gram of soil. The silica and protein content of bacterial biomass clearly showed an increase in uptake of silica with an increase in nanosilica concentration. Nanosilica promoted seed germination percentage (100%) in maize than conventional Si sources. These studies show that nanosilica has favourable effect on beneficial bacterial population and nutrient value of soil.