BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 255 IHSS&IWA26 / BRNO / CZECHIA / 23–28 August 2026 Hall A Poster Session / Environment, Agriculture, and Forestry P4.23 Hydrogel Bacterial Carriers as a Tool for Sustainable Agriculture Martin Súkeník1 Michal Kalina1, Barbora Hlaváčková1, Petr Sedláček1, Stanislav Obruča1 Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 464/118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic Martin.Sukenik@vut.cz The need for sustainable farming calls for innovative strategies to sustain production levels while reducing the reliance on conventional inorganic mineral fertilizers, thus improving environmental sustainability and safeguarding arable land. One notable advancement in this area is the creation of biofertilizers that harness plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) to improve soil health through a range of advantageous processes [1]. We have introduced an innovative concept for producing biofertilizers using bacteria Azotobacter vinelandii, focusing on its in-situ self-encapsulation within a protective gel medium through alginate crosslinking during or after bacterial cultivation. This technique simplifies the preparation process, potentially reducing costs and boosting competitiveness for scale-up production [2]. Specific bacterial strains of A. vinelandii were chosen for the development and characterization of the bioinoculant. Among these, Azotobacter vinelandii CCM 289 was chosen for its remarkable ability to synthesize alginate, its proficient gel formation, and its established characteristics that promote plant growth, which include the production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, and the synthesis of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase [3]. To validate the beneficial impact on plant growth, a long-term pot-cultivation study was conducted with corn (Zea mays) under driven and controlled conditions (moisture, temperature, irrigation, illumination), utilizing four formulations of PGPR carriers, each consisting of 8 plants. The results indicated that these formulations had positive effects, particularly under environmental stressors such as limited irrigation and nutrient shortages caused by low quality soil. The freeze-dried gel formulation notably enhanced soil microbial diversity, improved plant growth under stress conditions, and increased plant dry mass. These findings underscore the promise of alginate-based PGPR formulations in promoting sustainable agriculture. References 1. SHABIR, Rahat, Yantao LI, Mehran Rezaei RASHTI, Maryam ESFANDBOD, Mallavarapu MEGHARAJ and Chengrong CHEN. Alternative
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDA4Mjc=