ObjectivesPlant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) may contribute to sustainable crop production by improving plant growth and/or plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. Soil salinity, which limits the productivity of crop plants, is one of the major concerns of modern agriculture, especially in countries heavily affected by climate change as Vietnam. Currently, only a few reports have studied local PGPR isolated in Vietnam, particular Pseudomonas. Therefore, our study aimed to isolate and identify a region-specific Pseudomonas strain and evaluate the effects of this strain on germination, growth promotion and gene expression of Arabidopsis thaliana under salt stress.ResultsThe Pseudomonas named PS01 was isolated from maize rhizosphere collected in Ben Tre province, Vietnam. This strain was identified as a member of the Pseudomonas putida subclade. Pseudomonas PS01 could improve the germination rate of Arabidopsis seeds in 150 mM NaCl. A. thaliana plants inoculated with Pseudomonas PS01 survived under salt stress conditions up to 225 mM NaCl, while all non-inoculated plants were dead above 200 mM NaCl. The transcriptional levels of genes related to stress tolerance showed that only LOX2 was up-regulated, while APX2 and GLYI7 were down-regulated in inoculated plants in comparison to the non-inoculated controls. In turn, RD29A and RD29B did not show any significant changes in their expression profiles.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-019-4046-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are free-living soil bacteria (rhizosphere bacteria), rhizoplane bacteria or endophytic bacteria that may promote plant growth and suppress plant diseases. The aim of this study is to evaluate effects of 2 rhizobacteria strains belonging to the genus Pseudomonas isolated from maize rhizosphere on the plant growth promotion. The in vitro tests showed that both of strain could fix nitrogen, solubilize phosphate, produced phytohormones (IAA and GAs), and improved the germination and growth of Arabidopsis thaliana. Under the greenhouse condition, growth parameters of bacteria inoculated maizes (fresh weight of shoot, dry weight of root, chlorophyll content) were also increased significantly than those of uninoculated ones. Our results reported 2 promising bacteria strain candidates and revealed their potential as a biological agent for eco-friendly agricultural practices.