A reference-grade genome identifies salt-tolerance genes from the salt-secreting mangrove species Avicennia marina.

Water scarcity and salinity are major challenges facing agriculture today, which can be addressed by engineering plants to grow in the boundless seawater. Understanding the mangrove plants at the molecular level will be necessary for developing such highly salt-tolerant agricultural crops. With this objective, we sequenced the genome of a salt-secreting and extraordinarily salt-tolerant mangrove species, Avicennia marina, that grows optimally in 75% seawater and tolerates >250% seawater. Our reference-grade ~457 Mb genome contains 31 scaffolds corresponding to its chromosomes. We identified 31,477 protein-coding genes and a salinome consisting of 3246 salinity-responsive genes and homologs of 614 experimentally validated salinity tolerance genes. The salinome provides a strong foundation to understand the molecular mechanisms of salinity tolerance in plants and breeding crops suitable for seawater farming.

Kinetics of Phenol Biodegradation by Heavy Metal Tolerant Rhizobacteria Glutamicibacter nicotianae MSSRFPD35 From Distillery Effluent Contaminated Soils.

Biodegradation of phenol using bacteria is recognized as an efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective approach for reducing phenol pollutants compared to the current conventional physicochemical processes adopted. A potential phenol degrading bacterial strain Glutamicibacter nicotianae MSSRFPD35 was isolated and identified from Canna indica rhizosphere grown in distillery effluent contaminated sites. It showed high phenol degrading efficiency up to 1117 mg L-1 within 60 h by the secretion of catechol 1,2-dioxygenase via ortho intradial pathway. The strain MSSRFPD35 possess both the catechol 1,2 dioxygenase and catechol 2,3 dioxygenase coding genes that drive the ortho and meta pathways, but the enzymatic assay revealed that the strain cleaves catechol via ortho pathway. Haldane's kinetic method was well fit to exponential growth data and the following kinetic parameter was obtained: µ∗ = 0.574 h-1, K i = 268.1, K s = 20.29 mg L-1. The true µmax and S m were calculated as 0.37 h-1 and 73.76 mg L-1, respectively. The Haldane's constant values were similar to earlier studies and healthy fitness depicted in correlation coefficient value R 2 of 0.98. Phenol degrading kinetic's was predicted using Haldane's model as q max 0.983, K i' 517.5 and K s' 9.152. Further, MSSRFPD35 was capable of utilizing different monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and to degrade phenol in the presence of different heavy metals. This study for the first time reports high phenol degrading efficiency of G. nicotianae MSSRFPD35 in the presence of toxic heavy metals. Thus, the strain G. nicotianae MSSRFPD35 can be exploited for the bioremediation of phenol and its derivatives polluted environments, co-contaminated with heavy metals.

Potential of Finger Millet Indigenous Rhizobacterium Pseudomonas sp. MSSRFD41 in Blast Disease Management-Growth Promotion and Compatibility With the Resident Rhizomicrobiome.

Finger millet [Eleusine coracona (L). Gaertner] "Ragi" is a nutri-cereal with potential health benefits, and is utilized solely for human consumption in semi-arid regions of Asia and Africa. It is highly vulnerable to blast disease caused by Pyricularia grisea, resulting in 50-100% yield loss. Chemical fungicides are used for the management of blast disease, but with great safety concern. Alternatively, bioinoculants are widely used in promoting seedling efficiency, plant biomass, and disease control. Little is known about the impact of introduced indigenous beneficial rhizobacteria on the rhizosphere microbiota and growth promotion in finger millet. Strain MSSRFD41 exhibited a 22.35 mm zone of inhibition against P. grisea, produces antifungal metabolites, siderophores, hydrolytic enzymes, and IAA, and solubilizes phosphate. Environmental SEM analysis indicated the potential of MSSRFD41 to inhibit the growth of P. grisea by affecting cellular functions, which caused deformation in fungal hyphae. Bioprimed finger millet seeds exhibited significantly higher levels of germination, seedling vigor index, and enhanced shoot and root length compared to control seeds. Cross streaking and RAPD analysis showed that MSSRFD41 is compatible with different groups of rhizobacteria and survived in the rhizosphere. In addition, PLFA analysis revealed no significant difference in microbial biomass between the treated and control rhizosphere samples. Field trials showed that MSSRFD41 treatment significantly reduced blast infestation and enhanced plant growth compared to other treatments. A liquid formulated MSSRFD41 product maintained shelf life at an average of 108 CFU ml-1 over 150 days of storage at 25°C. Overall, results from this study demonstrated that Pseudomonas sp. MSSRFD41, an indigenous rhizobacterial strain, is an alternative, effective, and sustainable resource for the management of P. grisea infestation and growth promotion of finger millet.

Broad spectrum antimicrobial compounds from the bacterium Exiguobacterium mexicanum MSSRFS9.

Clinical bacterial pathogens front a major challenge for the clinical researchers and physicians. In particular microbial pathogens like Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Klebsiella pneumonia and Salmonella enterica are apparelled with systemic machineries to bring down the human immune system as well as proliferate dramatically in a short period which in turn cause a pronounced ailment to the human health. In vitro evaluation of four purified compounds isolated from rhizosphere bacterium Exiguobacterium mexicanum tested against clinical pathogens mentioned above by disc diffusion method showed the two compounds viz., 3,6,18-trione, 9,10-dihydro-12'-hydroxyl-2methyl-5-(phenyl methyl) (5'-alpha, 10-alpha)-dihydroergotamine (C3) and dipropyl - S-propyl ester (C4) exhibit antibacterial property against all the tested pathogens. Among the four clinical pathogens tested, compound C3 has shown higher zone of inhibition against S. enterica with 17±0 mm, followed by S. flexneri with 16.5±0.7 mm, E. coli with 15±0 mm and K. pneumoniae with 14±0 mm, respectively. The compound C4 has shown higher antimicrobial activity against S. enterica with 21.5±0.7 mm zone of inhibition, followed by S. flexneri with 19.5±0.7 mm, E. coli with 17±0 mm and K. pneumoniae with 16±0 mm, these two compounds were found to be safer when subjected to rat haematological and enzymatic analysis.