Alleviation of phytotoxic effects of cadmium on rice seedlings by cadmium resistant PGPR strain Enterobacter aerogenes MCC 3092.

Heavy metal resistant PGPR mediated bioremediation, phytostimulation and stress alleviation is an eco-friendly method for sustainable agriculture in the metal contaminated soil. The isolation of such PGPR is highly demanding to reduce heavy metals in contaminated cultivated fields for agricultural benefit. The present study was successful to isolate a potent multi-heavy metal resistant PGPR strain, identified as Enterobacter aerogenes strain K6 based on MALDI-TOF MS, FAME analysis and 16S rDNA sequence homology, from rice rhizosphere contaminated with a variety of heavy metals/metalloid near industrial area. The strain exhibited high degree of resistance to Cd2+, Pb2+ and As3+ upto 4000 μg/mL, 3800 μg/mL and 1500 μg/mL respectively. Intracellular Cd accumulation of this strain was evidenced by AAS-SEM-TEM-EDX-XRF studies. Moreover, it showed several important PGP traits like IAA production, nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, ACC deaminase activity even under high Cd stress (upto 3000 μg/mL). The combined effect of Cd resistance and PGP activities of this strain was manifested to the significant (p < 0.05) growth promotion of rice seedling under Cd stress by reducing oxidative stress (through antioxidants), stress ethylene and Cd uptake in seedlings. Thus K6 strain conferred Cd-tolerance in rice seedlings and could be applied as PGPR in contaminated fields.

Pramanik K ，Mitra S ，Sarkar A ，Maiti TK ... -  《-》

Bioaccumulation of cadmium by Enterobacter sp. and enhancement of rice seedling growth under cadmium stress.

Bacteria-mediated plant growth promotion and bioremediation of heavy metal containing soil is a widely accepted eco-friendly method. The present study is aimed to screen out cadmium resistant bacterial strain from metal contaminated rice rhizosphere and evaluate its effects on the growth of rice seedlings under cadmium stress. Among four different isolates (designated as S1, S2, S3 and S5), the S2 isolate was screened on the basis of different PGP traits and multi heavy metal resistance (minimum inhibitory concentration for cadmium, lead and arsenic were 3500, 2500 and 1050 µg/ml respectively). The selected S2 strain has ability to produce ACC deaminase (236.11 ng α-keto-butyrate/mg protein/h), IAA (726 µg/ml), solubilize phosphate (73.56 ppm) and fix nitrogen (4.4 µg of nitrogen fixed/h/mg protein). The selected strain was identified as Enterobacter sp. on the basis of phenotypic characterization, MALDI-TOF MS analysis of ribosomal proteins, FAME analysis and 16 S rDNA sequence homology. The high cadmium removal efficiency (> 95%) of this strain from the growth medium was measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer and it was due to intracellular cadmium accumulation evidenced by SEM-EDX-TEM-EDX study. SEM analysis also revealed no distortion of surface morphology of this strain even grown in the presence of high cadmium concentration (3000 µg/ml). Inoculation of this strain with rice seedlings significantly enhanced various morphological, biochemical characters of seedling growth compared with un-inoculated seedlings under Cd stress. The strain also exhibited alleviation of cadmium-induced oxidative stress, reduction of stress ethylene and decreased the accumulation of cadmium in seedlings as well that conferred cadmium tolerance to the plant. Thus the S2 strain could be considered as a potent heavy metal resistant PGPR applicable in heavy metal contaminated agricultural soil for bioremediation and plant growth promotion as well. A cadmium resistant plant growth promoting Enterobacter sp. was isolated that accumulated cadmium evidenced by SEM-TEM-EDX study. It reduced Cd uptake and enhanced growth in rice seedlings.

Mitra S ，Pramanik K ，Sarkar A ，Ghosh PK ，Soren T ，Maiti TK ... -  《-》

Characterization of cadmium-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae MCC 3091 promoted rice seedling growth by alleviating phytotoxicity of cadmium.

Pramanik K ，Mitra S ，Sarkar A ，Soren T ，Maiti TK ... -  《-》

Characterization of Cd-resistant Klebsiella michiganensis MCC3089 and its potential for rice seedling growth promotion under Cd stress.

Application of heavy metal resistant plant growth promoting rhizobacteria has an important role as they help to evade metal-induced toxicity in plants on one hand and enhance plant growth on the other. The present study is therefore focused on the characterization of a cadmium resistant bacterial strain isolated from heavy metal contaminated rhizospheric soil designated as S8. This S8 strain was selected in terms of cadmium resistance and plant growth promoting traits. Moreover, it also showed resistance to lead and arsenic to a considerable extent. The selected strain S8 was identified as Klebsiella michiganensis by modern approaches of bacterial taxonomy. The plant growth promoting traits exhibited by the strain include 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase activity (58.33 ng α-keto butyrate/mg protein/h), Indole-3-acetic acid production (671 μg/ml), phosphate solubilization (71.98 ppm), nitrogen fixation (3.72 μg of nitrogen fixed/h/mg protein) etc. Besides, the strain also exhibited high cadmium removal efficiency (73-97%) from the medium and intracellular accumulation as well. Its efficiency to alleviate cadmium-induced toxicity was determined against a rice cultivar in terms of morphological and biochemical changes. Enhanced growth and reduced oxidative stress were detected in presence of the bacterium. On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that K. michiganensis strain S8 is cadmium accumulating plant growth promoting rhizobacterium that can be applied in cadmium contaminated agricultural soil to achieve better productivity of rice.

Mitra S ，Pramanik K ，Ghosh PK ，Soren T ，Sarkar A ，Dey RS ，Pandey S ，Maiti TK ... -  《-》

Unraveling the heavy metal resistance and biocontrol potential of Pseudomonas sp. K32 strain facilitating rice seedling growth under Cd stress.

Heavy metal and metalloid toxicity in agricultural land needs special attention for crop production essential to feed increasing population globally. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are native biological agents that have tremendous potential to augment crop production in contaminated fields. This study involves selection and identification (through 16S rRNA gene sequence and FAME analysis) of a potent Pseudomonas sp. (strain K32) isolated from a metal-contaminated rice rhizosphere, aimed to its application for sustainable agriculture. Apart from multi-heavy metal(loid) resistance (Cd2+, Pb2+ and As3+ upto 4000, 3800, 3700 μg/ml respectively) along with remarkable Cd bioaccumulation potential (∼90%), this strain showed IAA production, nitrogen-fixation and phosphate solubilization under Cd stress. This bioaccumulation efficiency coupled with PGP traits resulted in the significant enhancement of rice seedling growth under Cd stress. This positive impact of K32 strain was clearly manifested in morphological and biochemical improvements under Cd stress including successful root colonization with rice roots. Cd uptake was also reduced significantly in seedlings in presence of K32 strain. Together with all mentioned properties, K32 showed bio-control potential against plant pathogenic fungi viz. Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, Paecilomyces sp., Cladosporium herbarum, Rhizopus stolonifer and Alternaria alternata which establish K32 strain a key player in effective bioremediation of agricultural fields. Biocontrol potential was found to be the result of enzymatic activities viz. chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase and protease which were estimated as 8.17 ± 0.44, 4.38 ± 0.35 and 7.72 ± 0.28 U/mg protein respectively.

Pramanik K ，Mandal S ，Banerjee S ，Ghosh A ，Maiti TK ，Mandal NC ... -  《-》