Evaluating the adhesive potential of the newly isolated bacterial strains in research exploitation of plant microbial interaction

Shifa Shaffique; Muhammad Imran; Shabir Hussain Wani; Muhamad Aqil Khan; Sang-Mo Kang; Arjun Adhikari; In-Jung Lee

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.1004331

Evaluating the adhesive potential of the newly isolated bacterial strains in research exploitation of plant microbial interaction

Front Plant Sci. 2022 Oct 21:13:1004331. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1004331. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Shifa Shaffique¹, Muhammad Imran¹, Shabir Hussain Wani², Muhamad Aqil Khan¹, Sang-Mo Kang¹, Arjun Adhikari¹, In-Jung Lee¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.
² Mountain Research for Field Crops Khudwani, Sher-e Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jamu and Kashmir, India.

Abstract

Bacterial adhesion potential constitutes the transition of bacteria from the planktonic to the static phase by promoting biofilm formation, which plays a significant role in plant-microbial interaction in the agriculture industry. In present study, the adhesion potential of five soil-borne bacterial strains belonging to different genera was studied. All bacterial strains were capable of forming colonies and biofilms of different levels of firmness on polystyrene. Significant variation was observed in hydrophobicity and motility assays. Among the five bacterial strains (SH-6, SH-8, SH-9, SH-10, and SH-19), SH-19 had a strong hydrophobic force, while SH-10 showed the most hydrophilic property. SH-6 showed great variability in motility; SH-8 had a swimming diffusion diameter of 70 mm, which was three times higher than that of SH-19. In the motility assay, SH-9 and SH-10 showed diffusion diameters of approximately 22 mm and 55 mm, respectively. Furthermore, among the five strains, four are predominately electron donors and one is electron acceptors. Overall, positive correlation was observed among Lewis acid base properties, hydrophobicity, and biofilm forming ability. However, no correlation of motility with bacterial adhesion could be found in present experimental work. Scanning electron microscopy images confirmed the adhesion potential and biofilm ability within extra polymeric substances. Research on the role of adhesion in biofilm formation of bacteria isolated from plants is potentially conducive for developing strategies such as plant-microbial interaction to mitigate the abiotic stress.

Keywords: bbf; biofilm; hydrophobicity; motility; sem.