TRANSACTIONS OF THE INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGIES
Institute of Molecular Biology, Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan
TRANSACTIONS OF THE INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGIES
Institute of Molecular Biology, Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan
*For correspondence: iesmirnova@mail.ru
Irina Smirnova: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5854-1529 Amankeldi Sadanov: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2593-6302 Gul Baimakhanova: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5416-3209 Marat Aldabergenov: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6421-2668 Yaira Rakhmetova: http://orcid.org/0009-0007-8259-7953
Soil salinization poses a serious threat to agriculture, as it causes soil degradation, negatively impacts crops, and reduces productivity. For Kazakhstan, the development of pasture livestock farming plays a key role in the country's economy, providing the population with essential food products. Soil salinization significantly reduces the forage value of pastures, as it leads to the displacement of valuable forage grasses by salt-tolerant weeds. A promising solution to this problem is the use of rhizobacteria, which promote grass growth in saline soils, thereby increasing the forage value of pastures. The aim of this study was to select salt-tolerant bacteria, study their ability to stimulate pasture grass growth under conditions of high salt stress, and create an effective association based on them to support growth in saline soils. Phosphate-solubilizing and nitrogen-fixing bacteria were isolated from saline pasture soils in the South-East of Kazakhstan, their salt tolerance was studied, and the most resistant strains were selected. It was shown that the bacteria actively fix atmospheric nitrogen and dissolve phosphates under salt stress. The ability of the bacteria to produce secondary metabolites (phytohormone and ACC deaminase), which relieve salt stress and promote plant growth, was established. Active bacterial strains were selected, and an effective association was created. Application of the association more than tripled the yield of green mass, which is an effective method for increasing grass productivity in saline pastures. Based on the bacterial association, it is planned to develop a biofertilizer for saline soils.
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IS - supervision, writing, original preparation; AS - writing-review and editing; BG - formal analysis; MA - funding acquisition; YR - visualization. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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The work was carried out within the framework of the grant project IRN AP23487733
The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this study.
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Received: April 08, 2026; Reviewed: June 03, 2026; Accepted: June 16, 2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62088/timbb/10.1.3Keywords:
Nnitrogen-fixing bacteria, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, salt tolerance, nitrogenase, phosphate solubilization, growth stimulation, salt stress, pasture grasses, productivity
Smirnova I., Sadanov A., Baimakhanova G., Aldabergenov M., Rakhmetova Y. (2026). Association of salt-tolerant bacteria to support the growth of pasture grasses on saline soils. TIMBB, 10 (1), 20-27.