Physiological and genomic insights into a psychrotrophic drought-tolerant bacterial consortium for crop improvement in cold, semiarid regions.

The agricultural land in the Indian Himalayan region (IHR) is susceptible to various spells of snowfall, which can cause nutrient leaching, low temperatures, and drought conditions. The current study, therefore, sought an indigenous psychrotrophic plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacterial inoculant with the potential to alleviate crop productivity under cold and drought stress. Psychrotrophic bacteria preisolated from the night-soil compost of the Lahaul Valley of northwestern Himalaya were screened for phosphate (P) and potash (K) solubilization, nitrogen fixation, indole acetic acid (IAA) production, siderophore and HCN production) in addition to their tolerance to drought conditions for consortia development. Furthermore, the effects of the selected consortium on the growth and development of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) were assessed in pot experiments under cold semiarid conditions (50 % field capacity). Among 57 bacteria with P and K solubilization, nitrogen fixation, IAA production, siderophore and HCN production, Pseudomonas protegens LPH60, Pseudomonas atacamensis LSH24, Psychrobacter faecalis LUR13, Serratia proteamaculans LUR44, Pseudomonas mucidolens LUR70, and Glutamicibacter bergerei LUR77 exhibited tolerance to drought stress (-0.73 MPa). The colonization of wheat and maize seeds with these drought-tolerant PGP strains resulted in a germination index >150, indicating no phytotoxicity under drought stress. Remarkably, a particular strain, Pseudomonas sp. LPH60 demonstrated antagonistic activity against three phytopathogens Ustilago maydis, Fusarium oxysporum, and Fusarium graminearum. Treatment with the consortium significantly increased the foliage (100 % and 160 %) and root (200 % and 133 %) biomasses of the wheat and maize plants, respectively. Furthermore, whole-genome sequence comparisons of LPH60 and LUR13 with closely related strains revealed genes associated with plant nutrient uptake, phytohormone synthesis, siderophore production, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) synthesis, volatile organic compound production, trehalose and glycine betaine transport, cold shock response, superoxide dismutase activity, and gene clusters for nonribosomal peptide synthases and polyketide synthetases. With their PGP qualities, biocontrol activity, and ability to withstand environmental challenges, the developed consortium represents a promising cold- and drought-active PGP bioinoculant for cereal crops grown in cold semiarid regions.

Borker SS ，Sharma P ，Thakur A ，Kumar A ，Kumar A ，Kumar R ... -  《-》

Suppression of maize root diseases caused by Macrophomina phaseolina, Fusarium moniliforme and Fusarium graminearum by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria.

Pal KK ，Tilak KV ，Saxena AK ，Dey R ，Singh CS ... -  《MICROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH》

Multifarious effect of ACC deaminase and EPS producing Pseudomonas sp. and Serratia marcescens to augment drought stress tolerance and nutrient status of wheat.

Drought is the prime abiotic stress that rigorously influences plant growth, yield and quality of crops. The current investigation illustrated the bio-protective characters of Serratia marcescens and Pseudomonas sp. to ameliorate drought stress tolerance, plant growth and nutrient status of wheat. The present study aimed for search of potential drought tolerant plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). All screened bacterial isolates exhibited potential plant growth promoting (PGP) attributes such as production of ACC deaminase, exo-polysaccharide, siderophore, ammonia, IAA, and efficiently solubilized zinc and phosphate under in vitro conditions. To assess the in situ plant growth promotion potential of PGPR, a greenhouse experiment was conducted by priming wheat seeds with screened plant PGPR. Improved water status, reactive oxygen species, osmolyte accumulation, chlorophyll and carotenoids content in plant leaves confirmed the excellent drought tolerance conferring ability of RRN II 2 and RRC I 5. Among all PGPR, RRN II 2 and RRC I 5 inoculated plants not only demonstrated greater harvest index but also exhibited more micronutrient (zinc and iron) content in wheat grains. Further, RRN II 2 and RRC I 5 were identified through 16S rDNA sequencing as S. marcescens and Pseudomonas sp., respectively. Furthermore, amplification of acdS gene (Amplified band size of acdS gene was ~ 1.8 Kb) also confirmed ACC deaminase enzyme producing ability of Pseudomonas sp. Moreover, correlation coefficient, principal component analysis and cluster analysis also demonstrated that nutrient status and values of agronomical parameters of wheat primed with S. marcescens and Pseudomonas sp. were at par with the positive control. Thus, the outcome of this comparative investigation indicates that Pseudomonas sp. and S. marcescens could be utilized as bioinoculant in wheat since they can improve the physiological status, productivity and nutrient status in wheat crop under drought.

Khan A ，Singh AV 《-》

Exopolysaccharide producing rhizobacteria and their impact on growth and drought tolerance of wheat grown under rainfed conditions.

Khan N ，Bano A 《PLoS One》

A phenazine-1-carboxylic acid producing polyextremophilic Pseudomonas chlororaphis (MCC2693) strain, isolated from mountain ecosystem, possesses biocontrol and plant growth promotion abilities.

The genus Pseudomonas is known to comprise a huge diversity of species with the ability to thrive in different habitats, including those considered as extreme environments. In the present study, a psychrotolerant, wide pH tolerant and halotolerant strain of Pseudomonas chlororaphis GBPI_507 (MCC2693), isolated from the wheat rhizosphere growing in a mountain location in Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), has been investigated for its antimicrobial potential with particular reference to phenazine production and plant growth promoting traits. GBPI_507 showed phenazine production at the temperatures ranged from 14 to 25°C. The benzene extracted compound identified as phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) through GC-MS exhibited antimicrobial properties against Gram positive bacteria and actinomycetes. The inhibition of phytopathogens in diffusible biocontrol assays was recorded in an order: Alternaria alternata>Phytophthora sp.>Fusarium solani>F. oxysporum. In volatile metabolite assays, all the pathogens, except Phytophthora sp. produced distorted colonies, characterized by restricted sporulation. The isolate also possessed other growth promoting and biocontrol traits including phosphate solubilization and production of siderophores, HCN, ammonia, and lytic enzymes (lipase and protease). Molecular studies confirmed production of PCA by the bacterium GBPI_507 through presence of phzCD and phzE genes in its genome. The polyextremophilic bacterial strain possesses various important characters to consider it as a potential agent for field applications, especially in mountain ecosystem, for sustainable and eco-friendly crop production.

Jain R ，Pandey A 《-》