Comparative genomics reveals the acquisition of mobile genetic elements by the plant growth-promoting Pantoea eucrina OB49 in polluted environments.

Heavy metal-tolerant plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) have gained popularity in bioremediation in recent years. A genome-assisted study of a heavy metal-tolerant PGPB Pantoea eucrina OB49 isolated from the rhizosphere of wheat grown on a heavy metal-contaminated site is presented. Comparative pan-genome analysis indicated that OB49 acquired heavy metal resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer. On contigs S10 and S12, OB49 has two arsRBCH operons that give arsenic resistance. On the S12 contig, an arsRBCH operon was discovered in conjunction with the merRTPCADE operon, which provides mercury resistance. P. eucrina OB49 may be involved in an ecological alternative for heavy metal remediation and growth promotion of wheat grown in metal-polluted soils. Our results suggested the detection of mobile genetic elements that harbour the ars operon and the fluoride resistance genes adjacent to the mer operon.

Improvement of Medicago sativa Crops Productivity by the Co-inoculation of Sinorhizobium meliloti-Actinobacteria Under Salt Stress.

Biotic and abiotic stresses are severely limiting plant production and productivity. Of notable importance is salt stress that not only limits plant growth and survival, but affects the soil fertility and threatens agricultural ecosystems sustainability. The problem is exacerbated in fragile arid and semi-arid areas where high evaporation, low precipitation and the use of salty water for irrigation is accelerating soil salinization. Legumes, considered very nutritious foods for people and providing essential nutrients for ecosystems are a fundamental element of sustainable agriculture. They can restore soil health by their ability to fix nitrogen in a symbiotic interaction with the rhizobia of the soil. However, salt stress is severely limiting productivity and nitrogen fixation ability in legumes. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and mainly actinobacteria promote plant growth by producing phytohormones, siderophores, antibiotics and antifungal compounds, solubilizing phosphate and providing antagonism to phytopathogenic microorganisms. In addition, actinobacteria have beneficial effects on nodulation and growth of legumes. In this study, actinobacteria isolated from different niches and having PGP activities were used in co-inoculation experiments with rhizobia in Medicago sativa plants rhizosphere submitted to salt stress. The results indicate that drought- and salinity-tolerant Actinobacteria with multiple PGP traits can potentially increase alfalfa growth under saline conditions, in the presence or absence of symbiotic rhizobial bacteria. Actinobacteria discovered in this study can, therefore, be suitable biofertilizers in the formulation of agricultural products improving plant development, health and productivity in saline soils, a necessary alternative for modern agriculture and sustainable development.

Durum Wheat Stress Tolerance Induced by Endophyte Pantoea agglomerans with Genes Contributing to Plant Functions and Secondary Metabolite Arsenal.

In the arid region Bou-Saâda at the South of Algeria, durum wheat Triticum durum L. cv Waha production is severely threatened by abiotic stresses, mainly drought and salinity. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) hold promising prospects towards sustainable and environmentally-friendly agriculture. Using habitat-adapted symbiosis strategy, the PGPR Pantoea agglomerans strain Pa was recovered from wheat roots sampled in Bou-Saâda, conferred alleviation of salt stress in durum wheat plants and allowed considerable growth in this unhostile environment. Strain Pa showed growth up to 35 °C temperature, 5-10 pH range, and up to 30% polyethylene glycol (PEG), as well as 1 M salt concentration tolerance. Pa strain displayed pertinent plant growth promotion (PGP) features (direct and indirect) such as hormone auxin biosynthesis, production of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, and ammonia and phosphate solubilization. PGPR features were stable over wide salt concentrations (0-400 mM). Pa strain was also able to survive in seeds, in the non-sterile and sterile wheat rhizosphere, and was shown to have an endophytic life style. Phylogenomic analysis of strain Pa indicated that Pantoea genus suffers taxonomic imprecision which blurs species delimitation and may have impacted their practical use as biofertilizers. When applied to plants, strain Pa promoted considerable growth of wheat seedlings, high chlorophyll content, lower accumulation of proline, and favored K+ accumulation in the inoculated plants when compared to Na+ in control non-inoculated plants. Metabolomic profiling of strain Pa under one strain many compounds (OSMAC) conditions revealed a wide diversity of secondary metabolites (SM) with interesting salt stress alleviation and PGP activities. All these findings strongly promote the implementation of Pantoea agglomerans strain Pa as an efficient biofertilizer in wheat plants culture in arid and salinity-impacted regions.

Pseudomonas knackmussii MLR6, a rhizospheric strain isolated from halophyte, enhances salt tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana.

AIMS: The study aimed for evaluate the efficacy of Pseudomonas knackmussii MLR6 on growth promotion, photosynthetic responses, pigment contents and gene expression of the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana under NaCl stress. METHODS AND RESULTS: The strain MLR6 was isolated from the rhizopshere of the halophyte Salsola tetrandra collected from a natural saline Algerian soil. Results showed the ability of MLR6 to induce plant growth promoting traits even under NaCl stress. The inoculation with MLR6 improved the stomatal conductance, the transpiration rate, the total chlorophyll and carotenoids contents under salt stress. It conferred also an increase of fresh/dry weight as well as plant height. MLR6 inoculation further provided a positive effect on cell membrane stability by reducing the electrolyte leakage and priming the ROS accumulation after the salt exposition. Additionally, the expression of NHX1, HKT1, SOS2, and SOS3 as well as SAG13 and PR1 was maintained in MLR6-bacterized plant at a similar level of controls. CONCLUSIONS: The inoculation of Arabidopsis thaliana with MLR6 improves plant growth and reduces damages caused by salt stress. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: The use of Pseudomonas knackmussii MLR6 appears as a promising strategy to improve the sustainable agriculture under saline conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Osmotolerant plant growth promoting bacteria mitigate adverse effects of drought stress on wheat growth.

Drought stress represents a major constraint with significant impacts on wheat crop globally. The use of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) has emerged as a promising strategy to alleviate the detrimental impacts of water stress and enhance plant development. We investigated 24 strains from diverse ecosystems, assessed for PGP traits and tolerance ability to abiotic stresses (drought, salinity, temperature, pH, heavy metals, pollutants, herbicides, and fungicides). The most effective bacterial strains Providencia vermicola ME1, Pantoea agglomerans Pa, Pseudomonas knackmussi MR6, and Bacillus sp D13 were chosen. Furthermore, these strains exhibited PGP activities under osmotic stress (0, 10, 20, and 30% PEG-6000). The impact of these osmotolerant PGPBs on wheat (Triticum durum L.) growth under drought stress was assessed at two plant growth stages. In an in vitro wheat seed germination experiment, bacterial inoculation significantly enhanced germination parameters. In pot experiments, the potential of these bacteria was evaluated in wheat plants under three treatments: Well-watered (100% field capacity), moderate stress (50% FC), and severe stress (25% FC). Results showed a significant decline in wheat growth parameters under increasing water stress for uninoculated seedlings. In contrast, bacterial inoculation mitigated these adverse effects, significantly improving morphological parameters and chlorophyll pigment contents under the stress conditions. While malondialdehyde (lipid peroxidation) and proline contents increased significantly with drought intensity, they decreased after bacterial inoculation. The antioxidant enzyme activities (GPX, CAT, and SOD) in plants decreased after bacterial inoculation. The increased root colonization capacity observed under water stress was attributed to their ability to favorable adaptations in a stressful environment. This study highlighted the potential of selected PGPB to alleviate water stress effects on wheat, promoting practical applications aimed at enhancing crop resilience under conditions of water shortage.

Screening for Fusarium Antagonistic Bacteria From Contrasting Niches Designated the Endophyte Bacillus halotolerans as Plant Warden Against Fusarium.

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) plantations in North Africa are nowadays threatened with the spread of the Bayoud disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis, already responsible for destroying date production in other infected areas, mainly in Morocco. Biological control holds great promise for sustainable and environmental-friendly management of the disease. In this study, the additional benefits to agricultural ecosystems of using plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) or endophytes are addressed. First, PGPR or endophytes can offer an interesting bio-fertilization, meaning that it can add another layer to the sustainability of the approach. Additionally, screening of contrasting niches can yield bacterial actors that could represent wardens against whole genera or groups of plant pathogenic agents thriving in semi-arid to arid ecosystems. Using this strategy, we recovered four bacterial isolates, designated BFOA1, BFOA2, BFOA3 and BFOA4, that proved very active against F. oxysporum f. sp. albedinis. BFOA1-BFOA4 proved also active against 16 Fusarium isolates belonging to four species: F. oxysporum (with strains phytopathogenic of Olea europaea and tomato), F. solani (with different strains attacking O. europaea and potato), F. acuminatum (pathogenic on O. europaea) and F. chlamydosporum (phytopathogenic of O. europaea). BFOA1-BFOA4 bacterial isolates exhibited strong activities against another four major phytopathogens: Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria alternata, Phytophthora infestans, and Rhizoctonia bataticola. Isolates BFOA1-BFOA4 had the ability to grow at temperatures up to 35°C, pH range of 5-10, and tolerate high concentrations of NaCl and up to 30% PEG. The isolates also showed relevant direct and indirect PGP features, including growth on nitrogen-free medium, phosphate solubilization and auxin biosynthesis, as well as resistance to metal and xenobiotic stress. Phylogenomic analysis of BFOA1-BFOA4 isolates indicated that they all belong to Bacillus halotolerans, which could therefore considered as a warden against Fusarium infection in plants. Comparative genomics allowed us to functionally describe the open pan genome of B. halotolerans and LC-HRMS and GCMS analyses, enabling the description of diverse secondary metabolites including pulegone, 2-undecanone, and germacrene D, with important antimicrobial and insecticidal properties. In conclusion, B. halotolerans could be used as an efficient bio-fertilizer and bio-control agent in semi-arid and arid ecosystems.