Genomic Analysis of Endophytic Bacillus cereus T4S and Its Plant Growth-Promoting Traits

Abstract

Insights into plant endophytic microbes and their exploration in agriculture have provided opportunities for sustainable plant health and food safety. Notable endophytic Bacillus species with plant growth-promoting traits have been documented; nevertheless, information on genome analysis of B. cereus associated with the sunflower in South Africa has not been studied. Therefore, we present whole-genome sequence of agriculturally important B. cereus strain T4S isolated from sunflower plants. The NextSeq Illumina sequencing yielded 7,255,762 bp sequence reads, 151 bp average read length, 5,945,881 bp genome size, 56 tRNA, 63 rRNA, and G + C content of 34.8%. The phylogeny analysis of strain T4S was similar to B. cereus NJ-W. Secondary metabolites, such as petrobactin, bacillibactin, bacitracin, molybdenum factor, zwittermicin, and fengycin underlining bacterial biocontrol efficacy against phytopathogens were found in the T4S genome. The predicted novel genes in the bacterial genome mediating the complex metabolic pathways can provide a genetic basis in understanding endosphere biology and their multiple functions thereof in crop improvement. Interestingly, seed and root inoculation with strain T4S contributed to sunflower yield under greenhouse experiments. Hence, the detection of notable genes specific for plant growth promotion as validated under in vitro screening, promisingly, suggests the relevance of strain T4S in agricultural biotechnology.

Dominance of Bacillus species in the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rhizosphere and their plant growth promoting potential under salt stress conditions

“… Ashraf, Bano & Ali (2019) isolated Bacillus cereus from wheat rhizosphere and reported its biofertilizer effect on maize. Recently, Adeleke, Ayangbenro & Babalola (2021) also reported that Bacillus cereus associated with sunflower have potential to produce PGP substances and improve plant growth. Xu et al (2022) isolated Bacillus subtilis from the soil of wheat rhizosphere and showed the antagonism effect against Fusarium crown rot fungal disease of wheat and increase the fresh and dry weight of the wheat.…”

Role of Rhizospheric Bacillus megaterium HGS7 in Maintaining Mulberry Growth Under Extremely Abiotic Stress in Hydro-Fluctuation Belt of Three Gorges Reservoir

“…Our findings indicated that the HGS7 strain conferred greater drought tolerance to mulberry trees. The presence of these genes confers the ability to defend against oxidative stress, thus contributing to microbial colonization and survival required for improved plant growth ( Adeleke et al, 2021 ). The presently isolated HGS7 strain exhibited extraordinary capability to endure various pH, temperature, and salt conditions in vitro , thus suggesting the potential ability to stimulate plant growth in adverse conditions.…”

Endophytic Bacteria Associated with Origanum heracleoticum L. (Lamiaceae) Seeds

“…However, petrobactin production is not exclusive to pathogenic isolates; indeed, numerous innocuous soil-residing isolates are also capable of producing this siderophore [ 57 ]. For example, genome analysis of the endophytic strain Bacillus cereus T4S, believed to possess plant growth-promoting traits, revealed the presence of the same petrobactin BCG [ 58 ]. Thus, it can be hypothesized that this endophytic strain might play a role in encouraging plant growth by means of the acquisition of iron and in protecting its host through the synthesis of secondary metabolites with recognized antibiotic properties [ 59 , 60 ].…”