Soil salinity is a global challenge in agriculture for crop production, and its widespread occurrence is becoming alarming due to poor irrigation management, excessive fertilizer and pesticide application. This research aimed to isolate and identify bacteria capable of tolerating soil salinity stress. Soil samples were collected from Dan Hassan in Kura LGA, Kano state. Some of the physicochemical properties of the soil sample were determined by using the standard method. The bacteria isolated were identified by cultural, biochemical, and molecular techniques. The pH, EC, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were 9.48, 11.56dsm-1, 0.30 %, 24.52 mg kg-1, and 0.19 cmol kg-1, respectively. The bacteria isolated and identified were bacilli, and gram-positive and gram-negative. Their 16S rRNA sequences, when BLAST, were found to be Bacillus Subtilis IM-BUK-3, which was newly deposited in NCBI, Sphingobacterium psychroaquaticum MOL, and Paenochrobactrum glaciei PHBR-1 with accession numbers PV716630, FJ156081, and LC557044.1, respectively. The bacteria isolated can be subjected to trials to ascertain their potential to alleviate salt stress and improve plant growth.
Ibrahim et al. (Mon,) studied this question.