Svetlana Garipova

The article discusses a methodology for assessing the compliance of the economic activities of oil and gas industry enterprises with the environmental component of ESG (E-component). Existing approaches to environmental audit of compliance with ESG principles are often fragmented, making it difficult to systematically analyze the aspects of sustainable development. The article proposes a methodology for developing an audit checklist based on the analysis of existing ISO 14000 and GRI standards. The results of this study can be used by companies for internal audits and to prepare their enterprises for obtaining an ESG rating.

For successful application of bacterial preparations, it is important to determine the stimulating and inhibiting doses of the exogenous phytohormone affecting the growth of the host plant. Bean seeds were treated with different doses of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) 0.00001–10 mg/l. For the Ufimskaya variety, the stimulating doses were 0.01–0.1 mg/l, for the Elza variety – only 0.001 mg/l BAP, for the Zolotistaya variety – 0.001 and 0.1 mg/l BAP. In this case, the Ufimskaya and Zolotistaya varieties increased the development of adventitious roots, while the Elza variety increased the total root length. Individual varietal reactions of the antioxidant system in response to seed treatment with cytokinin were determined. The identified characteristics of the varieties highlight the importance of understanding the complex balance between phytohormone signaling and antioxidant defense mechanisms in plant-microbe interactions and necessitate the use of precision doses of growth regulators and cytokinin-producing bacteria to specific varieties to stimulate growth.

The effect of inoculation by endophytic bacteria Bacillus subtilis 26D and 10-4 on potato yield, its commercial quality, the prevalence of tuber diseases, the number of bacteria in different organs of the plant endosphere, the enzymatic activity of the soil of the rhizosphere of inoculated and non-inoculated (control) plants and the number of different trophic groups of microorganisms in dynamics were studied. Treatment with the B. subtilis 10-4 strain led to an increase in the total number of tubers from the bush by 35.4, their weight by 16.5%, and a decrease in the number of diseased tubers with signs of scab and dry rot. Treatment with strain B. subtilis 26D contributed to protection against dry rot while maintaining productivity at the control level without inoculation. The number of endophytic bacteria in different organs of the plant varied from 106 to 8×107 CFU/g of crude mass. A larger number of endophytes than in the control and inoculation variant with strain 26D was recorded in the treatment variant with strain 10-4 in the budding phase in the roots, and in the flowering phase in the stems and leaves. According to the ratio of polyphenol oxidase/peroxidase activity in the rhizosphere of the inoculated variants, the humus accumulation coefficient increased from 0.51 in the control without inoculation to 0.56 and 0.57 in the inoculation variants with endophytic bacteria. The intensity coefficient of hydrolysis of organic soil compounds (invertase/catalase activity ratio) it was 2 times less in the variant of inoculation with strain 10-4. The high and prolonged catalase activity in the rhizosphere of plants inoculated with strain 10-4 indicated a positive effect of endophytes not only on the preservation of soil fertility, but also on the effectiveness of biocontrol of phytopathogens. Differences in the microbiome of the rhizosphere of inoculated plants were associated with an increase in the number of micromycetes and a high coefficient of microbial mineralization in the treatment variant with strain 26D and the predominance of the number of oligonitrophils in the treatment with strain 10-4.

Plant growth-promoting endophytic bacteria (PGPEB), producing auxins, are offered for a promising eco-friendly crop production. Precise bacterial strain selection is essential to ensure consistent and effective plant growth and resilience. Creating a model for the optimal dose-dependent interactions between PGPEB and hosts is necessary for understanding the mechanisms of high-precision selection of the inoculant composition to enhance bacterial preparations’ efficacy. This study investigated the impact of pre-sowing treatment with exogenous auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) at various concentrations (0, 10, 1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001, 0.00001 mg L⁻¹) on the growth and antioxidant responses of three cultivars (cvs) of Phaseolus vulgaris L. (bean): Ufimskaya, Elsa, and Zolotistaya. The findings showed dose-dependent and cultivar-specific responses of 7-day-old bean seedlings to exogenous IAA. Ufimskaya cv exhibited significant increases in shoot, main root, and total root lengths at 0.001 mg L⁻¹ IAA, while higher and lower concentrations inhibited growth. The reduced catalase (CAT) activity in roots and the elevated CAT activity in shoots correlated with shoot length and total root length of Ufimskaya cv. Importantly, the growth parameters exhibited weak or no correlations with malondialdehyde (MDA) and H₂O₂ content in roots and shoots, which is a peculiarity of the Ufimskaya cv response to exogenic IAA in contrast to the shown earlier response to inoculation with endophytes. The growth of only the main root of Elsa cv peaked at 0.1 mg L⁻¹ IAA, and there were neutral or inhibitory effects with other concentrations. The positive correlation between CAT activity in shoots and the main root length and total root length as well as positive correlation between MDA content in roots and the total root length of Elsa cultivar were revealed. The shoot length and total root length of Zolotistaya cv were neutral or negatively responded to all concentration IAA, but the number of roots increased by 2–4 times. For Zolotistaya cv, positive correlations were observed between CAT activity in roots and the length of the main root and the total root length. Overall, these cultivar-specific antioxidant responses to exogenous IAA may help create models for optimal dose-dependent interactions between auxin-producing PGPEB and plants, enhancing the effectiveness of microbial preparations for consistent bean growth promotion.

According to four field experiments, after the inoculation of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cultivar Ufimskaya with the commercial strain Bacillus subtilis 26D and the promising strain B. subtilis 10–4, it was found that inoculation with B. subtilis 10–4 improved seed productivity (SP) by 31–41% per plant, but only in dry years. In contrast, all 4 years of inoculation with B. subtilis 26D were ineffective or neutral. It was intended to determine the growing and biochemical characteristics of inoculated 7-day-old plants, which correlate with the field SP of bacterial preparations. The SP of inoculated plants (average of 4 years) correlated with root length (0.83), MDA content (−0.98), and catalase (CAT) activity in roots (−0.96) of week-old seedlings. High correlation coefficients between the H₂O₂ content in the roots and SP (0.89 and 0.77), as well as between the H₂O₂ content in shoots and SP (0.98 and 0.56), were observed only in two dry years, when the influence of bacteria was detected. These physiological indicators were identified as potential markers for predicting the effectiveness of the endophytic symbiosis between bean plants and B. subtilis strains. The findings may be used to develop effective microbial-based, eco-friendly technologies for bean production.

The article examines the effect produced by the preplant inoculation of potato tubers with Bacillus subtilis on biochemical processes occurring in the tubers of a new crop during the postharvest period at different storage periods. The content of malondialdehyde in tubers treated with strains 10-4 and 26D decreased by 15.5 and 35.5% and by 14.9 and 13.6% relative to the control after one and six months, respectively. The proline content in tubers pretreated with strain 10-4 differed insignificantly from the control in both storage periods, while in the case of strain 26D, it was lower than the control by 14.7 and 26.3%. First, the activity of protective proteins in treated tubers decreased relative to the control; then, the activity of trypsin inhibitors in tubers was found to significantly exceed that in tubers stored for a short time. The protein content of pretreated tubers was initially higher than that of the control; then, it was either at the same level (strain 26D) or 15% lower than the control (strain 10-4). The content of ascorbic acid in tubers pretreated with strain 10-4 exceeded that of the control by 16.1 and 17.9% after one and six months of storage, respectively, whereas in the case of strain 26D, no difference from the control was noted. The amount of reducing sugars was 39.4% lower than the control after one and six months of storage (strain 10-4) and 35.6% after six months of storage (strain 26D). The pretreatment with strains 10-4 and 26D positively affected the main biochemical parameters of tubers during long-term storage, providing a protective effect and preserving the biological value of produce.

The effectiveness of crop inoculation using growth-stimulating bacteria can depend on the plant variety and environmental conditions. The reactions of three-week-old plants of the Ufimskaya and Zolotistaya green bean varieties to inoculation with strains 26D and 10-4 in normal conditions and under stress (1% NaCl 48 h) were analysed. Although the Zolotistaya variety formed less biomass and leaf area, it surpassed the Ufimskaya variety in terms of chlorophyll and root water content, as well as reacting to stress by reducing the content of photosynthetic pigments and root water content. Inoculation contributed to the preservation of these indicators at the level of non–stressed plants: the positive effect of strain 26D was expressed in the effect on the composition of pigments, while that of strain 10-4 was expressed in the hydration of roots. Under stress, the Ufinskaya variety improved the water status of the roots, on which inoculation had a weak or negative effect; however, the decrease in the level of synthetic pigments under stress was compensated by inoculation with both strains. According to the biomass of three-week-old plants, the Zolotistaya variety was shown to respond positively to inoculation with both strains both normally and under stress, while the Ufimskaya variety tended to react negatively to inoculation with strain 26D; under stress, the effect of inoculation with both strains was positive. Compared with the stress-induced control, the malondialdehyde content in the roots of inoculated plants of both varieties decreased in comparison with that of the uninoculated control both in normal conditions and under stress. The revealed differences in plant reactions to inoculation serve as a basis for further analysis of the effectiveness of variety-strain combinations of symbiotic partners.

Influence of Nutrient Medium Composition for Culturing Bacteria and the Dose of B. subtilis 10-4 Biologics on Growth Indicators and Productivity of Wheat Plants Влияние состава питательной среды для культивирования бактерий и дозы препарата Bacillus subtilis 10-4 на ростовые показатели и продуктивность растений пшеницы