• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.480-481
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• 2006

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1431-1438
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• 2009

The role of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in the phytoremediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soils is important in overcoming its limitations for field application. A plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium, Serratia sp. SY5, was isolated from the rhizoplane of barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) grown in petroleum and heavy-metal-contaminated soil. This isolate has shown capacities for indole acetic acid production and siderophores synthesis. Compared with a non-inoculated control, the radicular root growth of Zea mays seedlings inoculated with SY5 can be increased by 27- or 15.4-fold in the presence of 15 mg-Cd/l or 15 mg-Cu/l, respectively. The results from hydroponic cultures showed that inoculation of Serratia sp. SY5 had a favorable influence on the initial shoot growth and biomass of Zea mays under noncontaminated conditions. However, under Cd-contaminated conditions, the inoculation of SY5 significantly increased the root biomass of Zea mays. These results indicate that Serratia sp. SY5 can serve as a promising microbial inoculant for increased plant growth in heavy-metal-contaminated soils to improve the phytoremediation efficiency.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1308-1315
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• 2014

Biological control using the plant growth-promoting Rhizobacterium (PGPR) has received significant attention in recent years. PGPR has been linked with promoting growth in economically important crops, such as potatoes, tomatoes, and rice. Bacillus mojavensis KJS-3 (Moja-3), isolated from food waste, possesses antifungal properties against Aspergillus terreus, A. fumagatus, A. flavus, and Fusarium redolense, and it may have potential in the development of products for industrial applications. The main purpose of this study was to determine the effects of spraying the PGPR Bacillus mojavensis KJS-3 on the growth of altari radish (leaf number, leaf length, leaf weight, root length, and rhizome length, adjacent portion diameter, and weight) and lettuce (leaf number, length, width, and weight). Three different concentrations of the foliar spray treatment of B. mojavensis KJS-3 were applied to the altari radish and lettuce: the recommended standard concentration of $1{\times}10^9cfu/g$, half the standard concentration of $0.5{\times}10^9cfu/g$, and double the standard concentration of $2{\times}10^9cfu/g$). The B. mojavensis strain foliar spray treatment increased the growth of the leaves and roots of the altari radish and increased the growth of the lettuce leaves. For both plants, the recommended concentration of B. mojavensis KJS-3 produced better growth than half the standard concentration, and the growth was similar with the double dose. This study demonstrates positive effects of Moja-3, suggesting it may be a potential new bio-fertilizer for improving the growth of altari radish and lettuce.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.174-181
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• 2013

The plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Ochrobactrum lupini KUDC1013 elicited induced systemic resistance (ISR) in tobacco against soft rot disease caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum. We investigated of its factors involved in ISR elicitation. To characterize the ISR determinants, KUDC1013 cell suspension, heat-treated cells, supernatant from a culture medium, crude bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and flagella were tested for their ISR activities. Both LPS and flagella from KUDC1013 were effective in ISR elicitation. Crude cell free supernatant elicited ISR and factors with the highest ISR activity were retained in the n-butanol fraction. Analysis of the ISR-active fraction revealed the metabolites, phenylacetic acid (PAA), 1-hexadecene and linoleic acid (LA), as elicitors of ISR. Treatment of tobacco with these compounds significantly decreased the soft rot disease symptoms. This is the first report on the ISR determinants by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) KUDC1013 and identifying PAA, 1-hexadecene and LA as ISR-related compounds. This study shows that KUDC1013 has a great potential as biological control agent because of its multiple factors involved in induction of systemic resistance against phytopathogens.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.510-515
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• 2005

The growth of red pepper plants was enhanced by treatment with the rhizobacterium, Bacillus cereus MJ-1. Red pepper shoots showed a 1.38-fold increase in fresh weight (fw) and roots showed a 1.28-fold fw gain. This plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) has been reported to produce gibberellins (GAs). Other GAs-producing rhizobacteria, Bacillus macroides CJ-29 and Bacillus pumilus CJ-69, also enhanced the fw of the plants. They were less effective than B. cereus MJ-1, though. The endogenous GAs content of pepper shoots inoculated with MJ-1 was also higher than in shoots inoculated with CJ-29 or CJ-69. When inoculated with MJ-1, bacterial colonization rate of the roots was higher than that of roots inoculated with CJ-29 or CJ-69. These results support the idea that the plant growth-promoting effect of the bacteria also positively related with the efficiency of root colonization by the bacteria. In addition, we identified the major endogenous GAs of the red pepper as originating from both the early C-13 hydroxylation and the early non C-13 hydroxylation pathways, with the latter being the predominant pathway of GA biosynthesis in red pepper shoots.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.389-399
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• 2009

A group of beneficial plant bacteria has been shown to increase crop growth referring to as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). PGPR can decrease plant disease directly, through the production of antagonistic compounds, and indirectly, through the elicitation of a plant defense response termed induced systemic resistance (ISR). While the mechanism of PGPR-elicited ISR has been studied extensively in the model plant Arabidopsis, it is less well characterized in crop plants such as pepper. In an effort to better understand the mechanism of ISR in crop plants, we investigated the induction of ISR by Bacillus cereus strain BS107 against Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria in pepper leaves. We focused on the priming effect of B. cereus strain BS107 on plant defense genes as an ISR mechanism. Of ten known pepper defense genes that were previously reported to be involved in pathogen defense signaling, the expression of Capsicum annum pathogenesis-protein 4 and CaPR1 was systemically primed by the application of strain BS107 onto pepper roots confirming by quantitative-reverse transcriptase PCR. Our results provide novel genetic evidence of the priming effect of a rhizobacterium on the expression of pepper defense genes involved in ISR.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.9-17
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• 2011

Positive effect of multiple-PGPR (Plan Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria), isolated from heavy metal contaminated soil, on the germination of Barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli var. frumentacea) was quantitatively estimated in 5 heavy metal (Cd, As, Ni, Cu, and Pb) contaminated liquid medium. The $EC_{50}$ value for respective heavy metal was estimated by TSK (Trimmed Speraman-Karber) model based on germination rate. The results showed overall increase in $EC_{50}$ with PGPR inoculation. The $EC_{50}$ value increased 1.4% from 96.0 mg/L (control) to 97.4 mg/L (PGPR-treated) in As contaminated medium. In Ni contaminated medium, the $EC_{50}$ value increased 31.9% from 148.0 mg/L (control) to 195.2 mg/L (PGPR-treated), while the $EC_{50}$ showed 4.8% increase from 63.4 mg/L (control) to 66.5 mg/L (PGPR-treated) in Cu medium. Overall seedling growth was stronger in the PGPR treated seeds than that in the control, but positive effect on seedling growth was not conspicuous. At effective concentration of 100 mg/L, the average seedling length of the PGPR treatment in As, Cd, Cu, and Ni medium, respectively, was 1.13, 0.14, 0.40, and 0.06 cm longer than that in the control. However, the increase of seedling growth was statistically insignificant (p < 0.05). These results suggest that inoculation of the isolated-PGPR exerts positive effects on seed germination by reducing heavy metal toxicity and can be an effective tool for application of phytoremediation on heavy metal contaminated soils.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.128-134
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• 2007

Previously, we isolated plant growth promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) Bacillus licheniformis K11 which could produce auxin, cellulase and siderophore. The siderophore of B. licheniformis K11 $(siderophore_{K11})$ was determined to be a catechol type siderophore which is produced generally by Bacillus spp. B. licheniformis K11 could produce the siderophore most highly after 96 h of incubation under nutrient broth at $20^{\circ}C$ with initial pH 9.0. For the production of the $siderophore_{K11}$, trehalose and $NH_4Cl$ were the best carbon and nitrogen sources in Davis minimal medium, respectively. The $siderophore_{K11}$ was Produced in M9 medium (pH 9.0) after 4 days at $20^{\circ}C$, and purified from culture broth of B. licheniformis K11 by using Amberlite XAD-2, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and reversed-phase HPLC. The $siderophore_{K11}$ had the biocontrol activity against spore germination of P. capsici and F. oxysporum on potato dextrose agar (PDA). The results indicate that the $siderophore_{K11}$ is an antifungal mechanism of B. licheniformis K11 against phytopathogenic fungi.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.97-102
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• 2015

This study aimed to evaluate the potential plantgrowth promoting effects of potassium polyacrylate, a superabsorbent polymer, and Bacillus sp. SH1RP8, a family of plant-growth-promoting bacteria. Potassium polyacrylate was selected as the polymer for use due to its high molecular weight and its ability to retain and continuously supply moisture. Plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were isolated from the soil and applied to plants growing in dry environments, such as saline conditions. The moisture absorption and retention abilities of potassium polyacrylate were evaluated at a high temperature ($50^{\circ}C$) and in a dry condition, during which time the polymer showed a water retention potential of 19606.07% after 29 days. To overcome the reaming problem in the soil environment, natural polymers (such as cellulose) were mixed with the potassium acrylate. The shoot growths of Peucedanum japonicum Thunb and Arundo donax were significantly enhanced when treated with the mixture of the isolated rhizosphere bacterium SH1RP8 and potassium polyacrylate (63.5 and 124.3%, respectively).

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.244-251
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• 2005

The induction of growth promotion on numerous crops by rhizobacteria is a well documented phenomenon. In case of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), fruit yield is higher in replant soil than that in fresh soil. To investigate what kind of rhizobacterium is involved, microbial community in rhizosphere and on rhizoplane of tomato plants from each soil was analyzed by dilution plating on selective media. Many Gram-negative bacteria and actinomycetes were isolated from tomato in replant soil. One Gram-negative rhizobacterium isolated was identified as Pseudomonas putida based on its biochemical characteristics, fatty acid methyl ester analysis and 16S rDNA sequence. This bacterium designated strain 17 inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas corrugata, and increased growth of tomato seedlings. In addition, its culture filtrate inhibited conidial germination of plant-pathogenic fungi such as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici, F. oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum, and Nectria radicicola. Scanning electron microscopy revealed strain 17 colonized and persisted on the epidermal surfaces of tomato radicles and roots. These results suggest that P. putida strain 17 may serve as a biological control agent to suppress multiple soil-borne diseases for tomato plants. Increased microbial populations that suppress deleterious microorganisms including pathogens could be one of the major factors in increased tomato yield in replant soil.