ECOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PHYTO-BENEFICIAL BACTERIA TOWARDS IMPROVEMENT OF MAIZE

1. ECOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PHYTO-BENEFICIAL BACTERIA TOWARDS IMPROVEMENT OF MAIZE By *1, 3, 4ABIALA, M. A,1ODEBODE, A. C, 3ADEOYE, G. O, 4HSU, F., and 4BLACKWOOD, C. B. 1Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria 2Department of Biological Sciences, AjayiCrowther University, Oyo, Nigeria 3Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria 4Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University.

2. Introduction • Maize (Zea mays L.): • Economic importance (CIMMYT, 2010) • High demand (Akande, 1994) • Implication of NPK fertilizer (Gerhardson, 2002) • Any alternative for NPK fertilizer? • Phyto-beneficial bacteria as an alternative • (Tilaket al., 2007; Hayat et al., 2010) • Why this study? • Objectives • Phylogenetic assessment of phyto- • beneficial bacteria • With respect to ecological distribution • in Southwestern Nigeria

3. Materials and Methods • Field Survey • Laboratory evaluation • Screen house evaluation • Phylogenetic analysis • - Taxonomy (Wang et al., 2007) • - Editing of sequences - Bioedit version 7. 0. 5 • - Sequence alignment (Thompson et al., 1994) • - Phylogenetic - Mega 5 (Tamura et al., 2011) • Data Collection and Analysis • Zone of inhibition (mm) • Plumule and radicle length • Phosphateandchitinase activity index • Growth parameters • Plant height, • Stem girth, • Number of leaves • and Leaf area • ANOVA was performed using SAS ( 9.2) • - Tukey – Kramer HSD test at α = 0.05 • - SNK test at α = 0.05 Figure 1: Map of Southwestern Nigeria showing Ecological zones and Study areas.

4. Table 1: Plant growth promoting characteristics of bacterial isolates

5. Effect of beneficial bacteria on maize seed germination Effect of beneficial bacteria on maize root whorls Effect of beneficial bacteria on maize growth Plate 1: Diagram representing sequential effect of beneficial bacteria on maize growth

6. Table 2:Molecular identification in distribution of phyto-beneficial bacterial isolates

7. Firmicutes (25.00%) Phyto-beneficial bacteria Proteobacteria (41.67%) Bacteroidetes (33.33%) Prevalence of occurrence (%) Figure 1:Distribution of 16Sr DNA identified phyto – beneficial bacteria based on phylla taxonomy

8. Ecological zone Distribution (%) Figure 2:Ecological distribution of identified phyto-beneficial bacterial isolates

9. Table 3: Identified soil bacterial isolates based on their ecological zone

10. TDS9 – Myroides sp. ILS13 – Bacillus sp. OSR7 – Enterobacter sp. EPR2 – Lysinibacillus sp. UNS9 – Stenotrophomonas sp. TDS9 ILS13 OSR7 EPR2 UNS9 Figure 3:Map of southwestern Nigeria showing most effective phyto-beneficial bacteria per ecological zone.

11. CONCLUSION • The less number and variation observed in beneficial bacteria across and within the ecological zones could be attributed to; • (Salakoet al., 2002; Eludoyin and Wokocha, 2011) • A large number of physico-chemical changes taking place in the soil which occur due to agriculture. • Soils of Southwestern Nigeria suffer physical degradation; • Such as erosion and chemical degradation, which causes nutrient loss. • These degradations can sometimes be caused by tillage, careless use of pesticides and fertilizers, and sewage slime, which eventually causes organic matter and biodiversity loss. • (Ibekweet al., 2001; Girvan et al., 2003)

12. Acknowledgements • West Africa Res. Ass. • University of Ibadan • IITA, Ibadan • IAR&T, Ibadan • Dept. of Botany, UI • Dept. of Microbiology, UI • Finally, To God Almighty THANK YOU….