• 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.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1805-1810
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• 2007

Purple nonsulfur bacteria were isolated from river sediments and their growth promoting capabilities on tomato were examined. Isolated strains KL9 and BL6 were identified as Rhodopseudomonas spp. by 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Rhodopseudomonas strain KL9 maximally produced 5.56 mM/min/mg protein and $67.2\;{\mu}M/min/mg$ protein of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), respectively, which may be one of the mechanisms of plant growth enhancement. The germination percentage of tomato seed, total length, and dry mass of germinated tomato seedling increased by 30.2%, 71.1%, and 270.8%, respectively, compared with those of the uninoculated control 7 days after inoculation of strain KL9. The lengths of the root and shoot of germinated seedling treated with 3 mM tryptophan, a precursor of IAA, increased by 104.4% and 156.5%, respectively, 7 days after inoculation of strain KL9. Rhodopseudomonas KL9 increased 123.5% and 54% of the root and shoot lengths of germinated seedling, respectively, treated with 15 mM glycine and succinate, precursors of ALA. This plant growth promoting capability of purple nonsulfur bacteria may be a candidate for a biofertilizer in agriculture.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.223-229
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• 2020

The application of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) supports the growth of plants in contaminated soil while ureolytic bacteria can immobilise heavy metals by carbonate precipitation. Thus, dual treatment with such bacteria may be beneficial for plant growth and bioremediation in contaminated soil. This study aimed to determine whether the PGPR Pseudomonas fluorescens could work in synergy with ureolytic bacteria to assist with the remediation of cadmium (Cd)- and lead (Pb)-contaminated soils. Pot experiments were conducted to grow radish plants in Cd- and Pb-contaminated soils treated with PGPR P. fluorescens and the results were compared with dual inoculation of P. fluorescens combined with ureolytic Staphylococcus epidermidis HJ2. The removal rate of the metals from the soil was more than 83% for Cd and Pb by the combined treatment compared to 17% by PGPR alone. Further, the dual treatment reduced the metal accumulation in the roots by more than 80%. The translocation factors for Cd and Pb in plant tissues in both treatments remained the same, suggesting that PGPR combined with the carbonate precipitation process does not hamper the transfer of essential metal ions into plant tissues from the soil.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 1997

Methanol extracts from 25 seed samples belonging to the family Leguminosae were subjected to an in vitro screening for their growth-promoting and inhibitory activities towards Bifidobacterium adolescentis, B. longum, B. bifidum, and Lactobacillus casei, using spectrophotometric and paper disc agar diffusion methods under $O_2-free$ conditions, respectively. The responses varied with both bacterial strains and plant species. Among seed extracts, extracts from Glycine max (light-green color) and Arachis hypogaea (dark-brown) enhanced the growth of lactic acid bacteria in media with or without carbon sources, suggesting that bifidus factor(s) might be involved in the phenomenon. This growth-promoting effect was most pronounced with L. casei among lactic acid bacteria used. Additionally, all seed extracts did not adversely affect the growth of the lactic acid bacteria tested.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.437-447
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• 2012

Natural and beneficial associations between plants and bacteria have demonstrated potential commercial application for several agricultural crops. The sunflower has acquired increasing importance in Brazilian agribusiness owing to its agronomic characteristics such as the tolerance to edaphoclimatic variations, resistance to pests and diseases, and adaptation to the implements commonly used for maize and soybean, as well as the versatility of the products and by-products obtained from its cultivation. A study of the cultivable bacteria associated with two sunflower cultivars, using classical microbiological methods, successfully obtained isolates from different plant tissues (roots, stems, florets, and rhizosphere). Out of 57 plant-growth-promoting isolates obtained, 45 were identified at the genus level and phylogenetically positioned based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing: 42 Bacillus (B. subtilis, B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, B. pumilus, B. megaterium, and Bacillus sp.) and 3 Methylobacterium komagatae. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis showed a broad diversity among the Bacillus isolates, which clustered into 2 groups with 75% similarity and 13 subgroups with 85% similarity, suggesting that the genetic distance correlated with the source of isolation. The isolates were also analyzed for certain growth-promoting activities. Auxin synthesis was widely distributed among the isolates, with values ranging from 93.34 to 1653.37 ${\mu}M$ auxin per ${\mu}g$ of protein. The phosphate solubilization index ranged from 1.25 to 3.89, and siderophore index varied from 1.15 to 5.25. From a total of 57 isolates, 3 showed an ability to biologically fix atmospheric nitrogen, and 7 showed antagonism against the pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The results of biochemical characterization allowed identification of potential candidates for the development of biofertilizers targeted to the sunflower crop.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.78-82
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• 2006

Since there could be more and rather various diazotrophs in rhizosphere of wild crops than those in rhizosphere of cultivars, some wild gramineous crops grown in Korea were collected for isolating nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Six diazotrophs were purified from their roots using nitrogen-free media. The isolated bacteria were partially identified as 4 genera by 16S rDNA sequence analysis: Stenotrophomonas sp., Bosea sp., Klebsiella sp., and Azorhizobium sp. By PCR amplification and sequence analysis, DNA fragments extracted from all isolates turned out to have an individual nifH homologous gene. Five isolates (KNUC163, KNUC165, KNUC169, KNUC170, and KNUC171) showed auxin activity and four isolates (KNUC163, KNUC166, KNUC170, and KNUC171) produced siderophores. Especially,3 strains of S. maltophilia showed both auxin and siderophore activities. In conclusion, the isolated nitrogen-fixing bacteria might have capabilities for plant growth promotion.

• Mycobiology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.244-251
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• 2012

In vitro and greenhouse screening of seven rhizobacterial isolates, AB05, AB10, AB11, AB12, AB14, AB15 and AB17, was conducted to investigate the plant growth promoting activities and inhibition against anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum acutatum in pepper. According to identification based on 16S rDNA sequencing, the majority of the isolates are members of Bacillus and a single isolate belongs to the genus Paenibacillus. All seven bacterial isolates were capable of inhibiting C. acutatum to various degrees. The results primarily showed that antibiotic substances produced by the selected bacteria were effective and resulted in strong antifungal activity against the fungi. However, isolate AB15 was the most effective bacterial strain, with the potential to suppress more than 50% mycelial growth of C. acutatum in vitro. Moreover, antibiotics from Paenibacillus polymyxa (AB15) and volatile compounds from Bacillus subtilis (AB14) exerted efficient antagonistic activity against the pathogens in a dual culture assay. In vivo suppression activity of selected bacteria was also analyzed in a greenhouse with the reference to their prominent in vitro antagonism efficacy. Induced systemic resistance in pepper against C. acutatum was also observed under greenhouse conditions. Where, isolate AB15 was found to be the most effective bacterial strain at suppressing pepper anthracnose under greenhouse conditions. Moreover, four isolates, AB10, AB12, AB15, and AB17, were identified as the most effective growth promoting bacteria under greenhouse conditions, with AB17 inducing the greatest enhancement of pepper growth.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.582-592
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• 2012

Microorganisms present in the rhizosphere soil plays a vital role in improving the plant growth and soil fertility. Many kinds of fertilizers including chemical and organic has been approached to improve the productivity. Though some of them showed significant improvement in yield, they failed to maintain the soil properties. Rather they negatively affected soil eventually, the land became unsuitable for agricultural. To overcome these problems, microorganisms have been used as effective alternative. For past few decades, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been used as effective inoculants to enhance the plant growth and productivity. PGPR improves the plant growth and helps the plant to withstand biotic and abiotic stresses. AM fungi are known to colonize roots of plants and they increase the plant nutrient uptake. Spore associated bacteria (SAB) are attached to spore wall or hyphae and known to increase the AMF germination and root colonization but their mechanism of interaction is poorly known. Better understanding the interactions among AMF, SAB and PGPR are necessary to enhance the quality of inoculants as a biofertilizers. In this paper, current knowledge about the interactions between fungi and bacteria are reviewed and discussed about AMF spore associated bacteria.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.625-636
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• 2011

Cold-adapted bacteria survive in extremely cold temperature conditions and exhibit various mechanisms of adaptation to sustain their regular metabolic functions. These adaptations include several physiological and metabolic changes that assist growth in a myriad of ways. Successfully sensing of the drop in temperature in these bacteria is followed by responses which include changes in the outer cell membrane to changes in the central nucleoid of the cell. Their survival is facilitated through many ways such as synthesis of cryoprotectants, cold acclimation proteins, cold shock proteins, RNA degradosomes, Antifreeze proteins and ice nucleators. Agricultural productivity in cereals and legumes under low temperature is influenced by several cold adopted bacteria including Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Burkholderia, Exiguobacterium, Pantoea, Rahnella, Rhodococcus and Serratia. They use plant growth promotion mechanisms including production of IAA, HCN, and ACC deaminase, phosphate solublization and biocontrol against plant pathogens such as Alternaria, Fusarium, Sclerotium, Rhizoctonia and Pythium.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.66-73
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• 2012

Plant growth promoting traits like production of indoleacetic acid (IAA), ammonia, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), siderophore, and like the enzyme activities of catalase, ACC deaminase, cellulase, chitinase and protease were assayed in vitro for twenty one phosphorus solubilizing bacteria isolated from soil isolates. Except SPP-5 and SPP-15 strains, all the other isolated strains produced IAA in various amounts of 10 to $23{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$. All strains showed positive response for ammonia production and ACC deaminase activity implying that they are capable of growing in a N-free basal medium. Catalase activity was found to be superior in SPP-2, SPP-7, SPP-12 and SPP-17 compared to the other strains tested. HCN production was detected by 15 strains and among them SPP-9, SPP-15, SAph-11, and SAph-24 were found to be strong HCN producers. Except the isolates SPP-10, SPP-12, SPP-13 and SPP-14, all the other isolates produced more than 80% siderophore units. None of the strains showed cellulose and chitinase activity. SAph-8, SAPh-11, SAPh-24 and SPP-15 strains showed 35.84, 50.33, 56.64 and 34.78 U/ml protease activities, respectively. SPP-1, SPP-2, SPP-3, SPP-11, SPP-17, SPP-18, SAph-11 and SAph-24 strains showed positive response for all the tested plant growth promotion traits except cell wall degrading enzyme activities. According to the results, all the tested phosphorus solubilizing isolates could exhibit more than three or four plant growth promoting traits, which may promote plant growth directly or indirectly or synergistically. Therefore, these phosphorus solubilizing strains could be employed as bio-inoculants for agriculture soils.