Development of ACCd producer A. brasilense mutant and the effect of inoculation on red pepper plants

Manoharan Melvin Joe; Abitha Benson; Denver I Walitang; Tongmin Sa

doi:10.1007/s13205-022-03300-5

Development of ACCd producer A. brasilense mutant and the effect of inoculation on red pepper plants

3 Biotech. 2022 Oct;12(10):252. doi: 10.1007/s13205-022-03300-5. Epub 2022 Aug 30.

Authors

Manoharan Melvin Joe^#^{1

2}, Abitha Benson^#^{1

3}, Denver I Walitang^{1

4}, Tongmin Sa^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental and Biological Chemistry, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644 Republic of Korea.
² Department of Microbiology, SRM College of Agricultural Sciences, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chengalpattu, India.
³ Department of Biotechnology, Karpaga Vinayaga College of Engineering and Technology, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu India.
⁴ College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Romblon State University, 5505 Romblon, Philippines.
⁵ The Korean Academy of Science and Technology, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Azospirillum is a plant-growth-promoting bacterium capable of colonizing and promoting growth in numerous crops of agronomic and horticultural significance. The objective of the present study is to develop Azospirillum brasilense CW903-acdS flocculating cells and to test their performance in promoting the growth of red pepper plants grown under salt stress. The flocculating CW903-acdS recorded 12.6, 37.3 and 91.6% higher ACCd activity at 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl concentrations, respectively, compared to non-flocculating (normal) CW903-acdS cells. The flocculating CW903-acdS recorded 29.8 and 24.5% higher specific growth rates compared to non-flocculating CW903-acdS cells at 100 and 150 mM NaCl concentration, respectively. The flocculating CW903-acdS recorded 29.7 and 24.5% higher production of IAA-like molecule compared to the non-flocculating CW903-acdS at 100 and 150 mM NaCl concentration, respectively. Similarly, 27.5 and 25.7% higher ARA activity was observed with the flocculating CW903-acdS compared to the non-flocculating CW903-acdS type cells at 100 and 150 mM NaCl concentration, respectively. In the pot culture experiment at 50 and 100 mM NaCl concentration, CW903-acdS inoculated pepper plants recorded 9.4 and 4.7% less ethylene emission, when compared to plants inoculated with non-flocculating CW903-acdS cells. At 100 mM NaCl concentration, plants inoculated with flocculating CW903-acdS recorded 27.5% higher dry weight compared to plants inoculated with non-flocculating CW903-acdS cells. This study implied the significance of flocculating CW903-acdS with better stress amelioration and plant growth promotion in red pepper plants grown under salt-affected conditions due to the positive influence of ACCd activity.

Keywords: 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase; Azospirillum brasilense; Flocculation; Salt stress; Stress ethylene.

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