ABOUT BACTERIA

DR. HASINAH
BOTANIST IN AGRICULTURAL
INDUSTRY
 What is bacteria?

Bacteria are single-celled

organisms that chemically
digest organic matter in soils
into smaller nutrient
components in forms
available to plants.
 Beneficial of bacteria
• Bacteria are the unsung heroes of
gardening.
• In cool compost pile, or in garden soil
- bacteria that thrive in cool
conditions will form the bulk of the
bacterial population.
• In hot compost,
-other bacteria that can survive
the high temperatures dominate.
 Bacteria for soil structure
improvement
• Soils with poor structure benefit as
bacteria breaks down soil compounds
and the soil re-aggregates.
• Spaces for air and water will open up,
and the sturcture of the soil will
become more uniform
 Bacteria for oxygenation
• Well structured soils provide plants
with necessary O2 in the root zone.
Plant use CO2 for photosynthesis, but
they use O2 for respiration.
• Soils without structure or organic
matter generally do not have enough
O2.
 Types of bacteria
• Mycorrhizophere
-this is the zone around
mycorrhizal roots, which is altered by
the physical and chemical presence
of the symbiotic mycorrhizal fungus.

• Symbiotic Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria

-most legumes(beans, peas) in
natural small soils from N-fixing
nodules with rhizobium bacteria
Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt)
Rhizobia
 Effect: No bacteria
• Microbes (fungi and bacteria) are critical to the
growth of plants in the soil. Many plants rely on a
symbiotic relationship with a type of fungi called
mycorrhizae.
• These fungi grow in and on plant roots and send
little fungal shoots, called hyphae, out into the
soil to collect crucial nutrients like phosphorus
and calcium, which are then transferred to the
plant.
• Other microbes (decomposers) break down
organic matter in the soil.
• Without decomposers, dead organic matter would
just pile up and plants would be starved for
nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.
• If you plant a tree which relies on
mycorrhizae in sterilized soil, it will
still grow but it will be much smaller
and less healthy than the ones grown
with mycorrhizae.

• In the long run, plants rely on

microbes to break down organic
matter in the soil (allowing nutrients
to be recycled) and no ecosystem
could continue to function without
them.