Abstract

Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) is one of the herbaceous plants, and its fruits of it consume globally. Due to critical management and low availability of planting materials, it is crucial to explore cost-effective and rapid propagation strategies for easy propagation of plantain. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the effect of Indole -3 acetic acid-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa Hema12 strain on plantain macropropagation. Nanoparticle calcium oxide was synthesized from calcium chloride and sodium hydroxide, characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The wild P. aeruginosa Z7-S and mutant strain P. aeruginosa Hema12 were grown in a nutrient broth incorporated with calcium oxide nanoparticles (CaONPs) medium. This study showed that plantain plantlets produced by the corm treated with wild P. aeruginosa Z7-S grown in nutrient broth incorporating CaONPs, and the plantlet producing rate was 1.57± 0.43, while its mutant P. aeruginosa strain Hema12 enhanced the highest leaf area 61.86±20.67 millimetre (mm). However, the number of leaves and hairy roots of plantain significantly improved in response to P. aeruginosa. These findings suggest that the application of P. aeruginosa strain Hema12 would be cost-effective, eco-friendly, and a potential plant-biostimulant for micropropagation of plantain. The microbe-based strategy could be considered a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers for producing plantain plantlets and other Musaceae family plants.

Key words: Nanoparticles, Corms, Biostimulant, Macropropagation, Plantain