Biofertilizer Based on Biochar and Metal-Tolerant Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria Alleviates Copper Impact on Morphophysiological Traits in Brassica napus L.

Metal tolerant plant growth-promoting (PGP) rhizobacteria are promising for enhancing plant productivity under copper (Cu) stress. Present pot scale experiment was conducted on Brassica napus L. to check the efficiency of rhizobacteria isolated from the rhizosphere of Tussilago farfara L. growing on Cu-contaminated soils. Out of fifty Cu tolerant strains, three isolates which showed multiple PGP traits such as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) synthesis, phosphate (PS) solubilization, siderophore and ammonia production were identified preliminarily by morphological and physiological characteristics followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The best Bacillus altitudinis strain TF16a which showed IAA: 15.5 mg L(−1), PS: 215 mg L(−1), siderophore halo zone ratio of 3.0 with high ammonia production was selected to prepare a biochar-based biofertilizer (BF). Seedling test showed maximum growth of B. napus shoot and root in presence of 5% of BF and this concentration was selected for further experiment. The pot experiment included four treatments: control (soil), 100Cu (100 mg Cu kg(−1) soil), 5%BF (v/v), and 5%BF+100Cu, which were carried out for 30 days, after which the morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters of B. napus were studied. The Cu treatment caused its accumulation in shoot and root up to 16.9 and 30.4 mg kg(−1) DW, respectively, and increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content by 20%. Application of BF with copper led to the decrease in the Cu accumulation by 20% for shoot and 28% for root while MDA content was the same as in the control. Both treatments of BF with and without Cu increased chlorophyll a and b content by 1.3 times on average as well as non-enzymatic antioxidants such as soluble phenolic compounds (1.3 times) and free proline (1.6 times). Moreover, BF + Cu led to the increase in the biomass of shoot and root by 30 and 60%, respectively, while there was no significant effect on the growth characteristics of plants after the addition of BF without Cu. The study elucidates that BF based on B. altitudinis strain TF16a and biochar can be a promising bioformulation which could increase rapeseed growth under the moderate Cu concentration in soil.