Isolation and Evaluation of Lead (Pb)-Tolerant Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria from a Soil Containing Pb for Long Term

This study was performed in order to isolate lead (Pb)-tolerant plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in Pbcontaminated soils and to evaluate their potential for production of plant promoting substances. The isolated Pbtolerant rhizobacteria were identified as Rhodococcus sp., Bacillus stearothermophilus strain A, Corynebacterium sp., Bacillus pumilus, Mycobacterium sp., Bacillus stearothermophilus strain B, Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus sp. The results showed that all isolates were able to tolerate high concentrations of Pb. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of these bacteria was in the range of 1100 1720 mg l-1 (3.3-5.19 mM). In addition, all isolates produced IAA (ranging from 3.53 to 43.64 mg l-1) and siderophore (ranging from 57.74 to 86.24%). However, only two isolates (i.e., Bacillus licheniformis and Mycobacterium sp.) had the ability to produce bacterial enzyme ACC-deaminase. Inoculation of medium containing poorly soluble PbCO3 with bacterial strain Corynebacterium sp. significantly increased the available concentration of Pb.