Genetic Diversity of Nitrogen-Fixing and Plant Growth Promoting Pseudomonas Species Isolated from Sugarcane Rhizosphere

Abstract

The study was designed to isolate and characterize Pseudomonas spp. from sugarcane rhizosphere, and to evaluate their plant- growth- promoting (PGP) traits and nitrogenase activity. A biological nitrogen-fixing microbe has great potential to replace chemical fertilizers and be used as a targeted biofertilizer in a plant. A total of 100 isolates from sugarcane rhizosphere, belonging to different species, were isolated; from these, 30 isolates were selected on the basis of preliminary screening, for in vitro antagonistic activities against sugarcane pathogens and for various PGP traits, as well as nitrogenase activity. The production of IAA varied from 312.07 to 13.12 μg mL−1 in tryptophan supplemented medium, with higher production in AN15 and lower in CN20 strain. The estimation of ACC deaminase activity, strains CY4 and BA2 produced maximum and minimum activity of 77.0 and 15.13 μmoL mg−1 h−1. For nitrogenase activity among the studied strains, CoA6 fixed higher and AY1 fixed lower in amounts (108.30 and 6.16 μmoL C2H2 h−1 mL−1). All the strains were identified on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and the phylogenetic diversity of the strains was analyzed. The results identified all strains as being similar to Pseudomonas spp. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of nifH and antibiotic genes was suggestive that the amplified strains had the capability to fix nitrogen and possessed biocontrol activities. Genotypic comparisons of the strains were determined by BOX, ERIC, and REP PCR profile analysis. Out of all the screened isolates, CY4 (Pseudomonas koreensis) and CN11 (Pseudomonas entomophila) showed the most prominent PGP traits, as well as nitrogenase activity. Therefore, only these two strains were selected for further studies; Biolog profiling; colonization through green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged bacteria; and nifH gene expression using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis. The Biolog phenotypic profiling, which comprised utilization of C and N sources, and tolerance to osmolytes and pH, revealed the metabolic versatility of the selected strains. The colonization ability of the selected strains was evaluated by genetically tagging them with a constitutively expressing GFP-pPROBE-pTetr-OT plasmid. qRT-PCR results showed that both strains had the ability to express the nifH gene at 90 and 120 days, as compared to a control, in both sugarcane varieties GT11 and GXB9. Therefore, our isolated strains, P. koreensis and P. entomophila may be used as inoculums or in biofertilizer production for enhancing growth and nutrients, as well as for improving nitrogen levels, in sugarcane and other crops. The present study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first report on the diversity of Pseudomonas spp. associated with sugarcane in Guangxi, China.

The Role of Soil Microbes in Promoting Plant Growth

“…However, it is generally accepted that the process of offering is very possible. For example, a non-immobilized nitrogen can not promote the growth of its plant host (sugarcane) compared to wild type (Li et al, 2017). Sugarcane is a nutrient-demanding, fast-growing, C4 photosynthetic plant.…”

Isolation and Proto-cooperation of Pseudomonas putida TS 18 from Water Calyx Fluid of Spathodea campanulata P. Beauv.

“…It is well known fact that even Proteobacteria members like Pseudomonas can fix atmospheric nitrogen (Yongliang et al 2008). Many authors have also proven that P. putida strains can fix nitrogen under natural and induced conditions (Yongliang et al 2008;Ran et al 1987;Chan et al 1944;Setten et al 2013;Li et al 2017). In the present study the isolate showed 99% homology to P. putida H8234.…”

“…The 16S rDNA gene sequence obtained from the isolated bacteria was subjected to phylogenetic analysis using MEGA X. The evolutionary history was inferred using the Neighbor-Joining method (Li et al 2017).…”

Characterization and identification of nitrogenfixing bacteria isolated from agricultural soil

“…The strains CY4 (P. koreensis) and CN11 (P. entomophila) show nifH gene expression in sugarcane (the nifH gene has to do with nitrogen fixation). Inoculation of the strains may be an imminent development for biofertiliser application, for sustainable crop production, in reducing environmental pollution, and in biological agri-business [11]. The inoculation of red beets with the nitrogen-fixing bacteria Pseudomonas putida 23 increased the activity of nitrogen fixation in the rhizosphere of plants grown in meadow soil in the central part of the Oka River floodplain [12].…”