Biopriming with plant growth-promoting bacteria enhances germination and stress tolerance of Pinus nigra seeds under drought and salinity stress
FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE, cilt.9, ss.1-20, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 9
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1905933
- Dergi Adı: FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), BIOSIS, Directory of Open Access Journals, Zoological Record
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-20
- Çukurova Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Climate change has intensified drought and soil salinity, posing significant constraints to seed germination, seedling establishment, and afforestation success in forest tree species. Seed biopriming with plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) has emerged as a sustainable strategy to enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stress; however, its effectiveness in Pinus nigra remains poorly understood. This study evaluated the effects of seed biopriming with eight PGPB strains (Lactobacillus paracasei, L. paraplantarum, Paenibacillus amylolyticus, P. pabuli, Bacillus subtilis, B. megaterium, B. licheniformis, and Pseudomonas chlororaphis), individually and in two bacterial consortia on the germination performance of black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold.) under simulated drought (PEG-6000) and salinity (NaCl) stress. Germination percentage, mean germination rate, relative germination percentage, mean germination time, germination index, and germination value were evaluated under four levels of each stress. Biopriming significantly mitigated the adverse effects of both drought and salinity, resulting in higher germination performance than untreated controls. Bacillus megaterium consistently maintained the highest germination percentage and germination index under drought stress, whereas Bacillus licheniformis exhibited superior performance under high salinity. Lactobacillus paraplantarum and Paenibacillus amylolyticus markedly accelerated germination by reducing mean germination time and maintaining stable germination rates across increasing stress intensities. Principal component analysis further demonstrated distinct stress-specific responses among bacterial treatments, with Bacillus species showing the strongest association with improved germination under severe abiotic stress. Overall, the findings demonstrate that PGPB-mediated seed biopriming effectively enhances germination resilience of P. nigra under drought and salinity stress. This environmentally sustainable approach has considerable potential to improve nursery production, afforestation success, and climate-resilient forest restoration in water-limited and salt-affected environments.