Physiological and biochemical responses of Brassica napus L. to drought-induced stress by the application of biochar and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria

Climate change induces biotic and abiotic stress conditions, which badly affect the yield of crops with leading to the biochemical and physiological damages to plants. Biochar and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) alleviate the effect of drought condition therefore a field study was conducted to examine the single and combine application of drought tolerant Pseudomonas sp. and Staphylococcus sp. with biochar of Morus alba L. wood to mitigate the adverse effects of drought stress in two genotypes of Brassica napus L. including Punjab sarson and westar. Physioco-chemical analysis of biochar showed 5.4 cmol/kg cation exchange capacity, 6.9 ds/m electrical conductivity, pH of 9.6, 0.50 g/cm³ bulk density, and organic carbon 3.64%. Synergistic application of PGPR and biochar developed the plant antioxidant enzyme including catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and also enhanced the content of photosynthetic pigments like chlorophyll pigments, carotenoids content, and anthocyanin content. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) study revealed that biochar and PGPR improved epidermal vigor and stomatal physiology. Malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂ O₂ ), APX, and osmolyte content including proline increased in drought stress, which were then decreased by these growth promoters. These results are very important as they illustrate the potential of PGPR and biochar to alleviate the adverse consequences of drought stress and offer a way of increasing the tolerance of B. napus L. plant grown under induced drought stress.