Isolation and Characterization of potential PGPR bacteria from the rhizosphere of sugar cane

KOLTAN, MARIANO; MICHAVILA GABRIELA; PERALATA, DAIANA; CARAM DI SANTO, CAROLINA; VINCENT, PAULA A.; CORBALÁN, NATALIA; POMARES, MARÍA FERNANDA

Congreso; L Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Bioquímica y Biología molecular; 2014

Sugar cane is one of the most important crop in Tucumán. Actually, Tucumán is the principal producer of sugar cane in Argentine. This crop is the main raw material in the production of ethanol and electricity generation, for this reason exist great interest in generate strategies to increase the biomass produced from sugar cane. The bacteria that inhabit the rhizosphere and have ability to cause a positive effect on plants are called plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR). Our laboratory addressed a screening for rhizospheric bacteria from sugar cane featuring plant promoting traits and antibiotic action against plant pathogens. We studied bacterial biochemical markers of the isolates associated with plant growth promotion, i.e. siderophore production, synthesis of indole acetic acid and phosphate solubilization. We found that five isolates (R6, R10, R17, R22 and E35) presented characteristics related to a PGPR bacteria. Also, the strains R17, R22 and E35 showed antibiotic activity against the pathogen Acidoborax avenae, causal of the red stripe disease of sugar cane. Preliminary in vivo assays, using corn plants showed a positive effect of the R17, R22 isolates on plant growth. These results indicate a promising role of these strains in the formulation of an bioinoculant for plant growth promotion.