TY - EJOU AU - C, astillo-Aguilar de la AU - Zúñiga-Aguilar, JJ AU - Guzmán-Antonio, AA AU - Garruña, R TI - PGPR inoculation improves growth, nutrient uptake and physiological parameters of Capsicum chinense plants T2 - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany PY - 2017 VL - 86 IS - all SN - 1851-5657 AB - The Habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense) is intensively cultivated in the Yucatan peninsula, México. Because of adverse environmental conditions, it required seeding in germination trays, from which six-week-old seedlings were transplanted to the soil. Adequate nursing and fertilization programmes were made to improve health and vigour before seedlings transplanting. During seed germination, we investigated the effects of inoculation with four plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on growth, nutrient uptake and gas exchange of 8-week-old Capsicum chinense plants. Inoculation was made with Pseudomonas sp. -P61-, Pseudomonas sp. -A46-, Bacillus pumillus -R44-, and Paenibacillus polymyxa-BSP1.1-. The BSP1.1 strain produced the highest increase in plant height (22.52 cm), leaf area (99 cm2 ), fresh weight of roots (0.337g) and shoots (2.83 g), and dry weights of roots (0.05 g) and shoots (0.43 g). Nitrogen uptake was similar (P>0.05) among treatments. However, seedlings inoculated with BSP1.1 had a higher accumu-lation than controls when they were exposed to P and K (50 and 40%, respectively). Likewise, seedlings inoculated with the BSP1.1 strain improved both photosynthesis (2 µmol/m2/s) and water use efficiency (7.3 µmol CO2/mmol H2O), and decreased transpiration rate (0.27 mmol/m2/s). Thus, the inoculation with the BSP1.1 strain was the best option to enhance growth and vigour of Capsicum chinense plants. KW - Habanero pepper KW - Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria KW - Leaf area KW - Biomass KW - Bioprotection DO - 10.32604/phyton.2017.86.199