Changes in Structural and Functional Responses of Bacterial Communities under Different Levels of Long-Term Compost Application in Paddy Soils.

Soils amended for long-term with high levels of compost demonstrated greater abundance of bacterial members of the phylum Bacteroidetes whereas a decreasing trend in the relative abundance of phylum Acidobacteria was noted with increasing levels of compost. Metabolic profiles predicted by PICRUSt demonstrated differences in functional responses of the bacterial community according to the treatments. Soils amended with lower compost levels were characterized by abundance of genes encoding enzymes contributing to membrane transport and cell growth whereas genes encoding enzymes related to protein folding and transcription were enriched in soils amended with high levels of compost. Thus, the results of the current study provide extensive evidence of the influence of different compost levels on bacterial diversity and community structure in paddy soils.

Assessment of Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20 aggregates for salt tolerance and plant growth promoting characteristics for bio-inoculant development.

Salinity is one of the major factors contributing to the loss of crop productivity and thereby impacting livelihood of people in more than 100 countries of the world and the area of land affected by salinity is increasing day by day. This will worsen due to various factors such as drought that might result in high soil salinity. Use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria is one of the promising eco-friendly strategies for salinity stress management as part of sustainable agricultural practices. However, it requires selecting rhizobacteria with good survivability and adaptation to salt stress. In this study we report aggregation of Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20 cells grown in media containing high C/N ratio (30:1) than in media containing low C/N ratio (7:1). Aggregated Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20 cells exhibited enhanced tolerance to UV irradiation, heat, desiccation, different temperature regimes, oxidative stress, starvation and supported higher population in media. Poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate accumulation, exopolysaccharide production, proline accumulation and biofilm formation were good at 100 mM salt concentration with good microbial cell hydrophobicity at both 50 and 100 mM than other concentrations. Both the aggregated and non-aggregated cells grown under 0-200 mM salt concentrations produced IAA even at 200 mM salt concentration with a peak at 100 mM concentration with aggregated cells producing significantly higher quantities. ACC deaminase activity was observed in all NaCl concentrations studied with gradual and drastic reduction in aggregated and non-aggregated cells over increased salt concentrations.

Erratum to: Isolation, Characterization, and Use for Plant Growth Promotion Under Salt Stress, of ACC Deaminase-Producing Halotolerant Bacteria Derived from Coastal Soil.

This erratum is being published to correct the error in the name of the strain in the paper by Siddikee et al. The name of the strain B. iodinum should be corrected as B. linens in title 'Isolation, Characterization, and Use for Plant Growth Promotion Under Salt Stress, of ACC Deaminase-Producing Halotolerant Bacteria Derived from Coastal Soil'.

Isolation, characterization, and use for plant growth promotion under salt stress, of ACC deaminase-producing halotolerant bacteria derived from coastal soil.

In total, 140 halotolerant bacterial strains were isolated from both the soil of barren fields and the rhizosphere of six naturally growing halophytic plants in the vicinity of the Yellow Sea, near the city of Incheon in the Republic of Korea. All of these strains were characterized for multiple plant growth promoting traits, such as the production of indole acetic acid (IAA), nitrogen fixation, phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) solubilization, thiosulfate (S2O3) oxidation, the production of ammonia (NH3), and the production of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes such as protease, chitinase, pectinase, cellulase, and lipase under in vitro conditions. From the original 140 strains tested, on the basis of the latter tests for plant growth promotional activity, 36 were selected for further examination. These 36 halotolerant bacterial strains were then tested for 1- aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase activity. Twenty-five of these were found to be positive, and to be exhibiting significantly varying levels of activity. 16S rRNA gene sequencing analyses of the 36 halotolerant strains showed that they belong to 10 different bacterial genera: Bacillus, Brevibacterium, Planococcus, Zhihengliuella, Halomonas, Exiguobacterium, Oceanimonas, Corynebacterium, Arthrobacter, and Micrococcus. Inoculation of the 14 halotolerant bacterial strains to ameliorate salt stress (150 mM NaCl) in canola plants produced an increase in root length of between 5.2% and 47.8%, and dry weight of between 16.2% and 43%, in comparison with the uninoculated positive controls. In particular, three of the bacteria, Brevibacterium epidermidis RS15, Micrococcus yunnanensis RS222, and Bacillus aryabhattai RS341, all showed more than 40% increase in root elongation and dry weight when compared with uninoculated saltstressed canola seedlings. These results indicate that certain halotolerant bacteria, isolated from coastal soils, have a real potential to enhance plant growth under saline stress, through the reduction of ethylene production via ACC deaminase activity.