Performance of AMF, Rhizobium and its Exopolysaccharides in Drought and Disease Resistance of Zea mays L. (Maize)

The roles of biologically synthesized Exopolysaccharides (EPS) from Rhizobium and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus (AMF) in tolerating biotic and abiotic stresses were investigated in this study. The treatments effect of Rhizobia, Rhizobial-exopolysaccharides ( Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110) and AMF ( Glomus clarum ), singly and in combination were evaluated on two varieties (TZmI1466 and TZmI1297) infected by Bipolaris maydis (BM) and subjected to water stress. Screen house experiments were conducted using a complete randomized design with three replicates. The growth characteristics, root and shoot biomass and disease incidence data were collected and analyzed by descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA at α 0.05 .Seed treatments with EPS had the highest significant (P < 0.05) effect on Bipolaris maydis (1.67) and drought in maize. The effect of Rhizobium, exopolysaccharide and AMF treatments against B. maydis showed that Rhizobium alone significantly increase the growth characteristics but suppressed the B. maydis effect. The exopolysaccharide improved all the growth parameters during water stress, while AMF-treated plants significantly improved plant height (43.41 cm ± 2.30), leaf area (114.08 cm 2  ± 7.89) and stem diameter (2.58 ± 0.10 cm). Maize variety TZm11297 performed best for the number of leaves (8.48 ± 0.12 cm 2 ) and leaf area (116.97 ± 2.94 cm 2 ) but not significantly different from other growth characteristics in TZm14466.Inoculation with AMF and Rhizobium demonstrated enhanced growth and development of maize plants. Microbial inoculants tolerated drought stress in maize thus, ensuring enhanced crop productivity.