Bacillus altitudinis is a widely distributed soil bacterium that has various functional activities, including remediation of contaminated soil, degradation of herbicides, and enhancement of plant growth. B. altitudinis GQYP101 was isolated from the rhizosphere soil of Lycium barbarum L. and demonstrated potential as a plant growth-promoting bacterium. In this work, strain GQYP101 could solubilize phosphorus, and increased the stem diameter, maximum leaf area, and fresh weight of corn in a pot experiment. Nitrogen and phosphorus contents of corn seedlings (aerial part) increased by 100% and 47.9%, respectively, after application of strain GQYP101. Concurrently, nitrogen and phosphorus contents of corn root also increased, by 55.40% and 20.3%, respectively. Furthermore, rhizosphere soil nutrients were altered and the content of available phosphorus increased by 73.2% after application of strain GQYP101. The mechanism by which strain GQYP101 improved plant growth was further investigated by whole genome sequence analysis. Strain GQYP101 comprises a circular chromosome and a linear plasmid. Some key genes of strain GQYP101 were identified that were related to phosphate solubilization, alkaline phosphatase, chemotaxis, and motility. The findings of this study may provide a theoretical basis for strain GQYP101 to enhance crop yield as microbial fertilizer.
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