Effects of inoculation with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria from the Brazilian Amazon on the bacterial community associated with maize in field

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the inoculation with the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria Bacillus thuringiensis RZ2MS9 and Burkholderia ambifaria RZ2MS16, both from the Brazilian Amazon, on the bacterial community of the rhizobiome and leaves of maize grown in field. For comparison, we analysed the effects of inoculating Azospirillum brasilense Ab-V5, a strain that is commercialized as inoculant for maize, as well as the combinations RZ2MS16 + Ab-V5 and RZ2MS9 + Ab-V5. The treatment RZ2MS9 + Ab-V5 yielded the highest plant height and stalk diameter, which were significantly different from the non-inoculated control (p