Abstract
A plethora of bacteria–fungal interactions occur on the extended fungal hyphae network in soil. The mycosphere of saprophytic fungi can serve as a bacterial niche boosting their survival, dispersion, and activity. Such ecological concepts can be converted to bioproducts for sustainable agriculture. Accordingly, we tested the hypothesis that the well-characterised beneficial bacterium Serratia marcescens UENF-22GI can enhance plant growth-promoting properties when combined with Trichoderma longibrachiatum UENF-F476. The cultural and cell interactions demonstrated S. marcescens and T. longibrachiatum mutual compatibility. Bacteria cells were able to attach, forming aggregates to biofilms and migrating through the fungal hyphae network. Long-distance bacterial migration through growing hyphae was confirmed using a two-compartment Petri dishes assay. Fungal inoculation increased the bacteria survival rates into the vermicompost substrate over the experimental time. Also, in vitro indolic compound, phosphorus, and zinc solubilisation bacteria activities increased in the presence of the fungus. In line with the ecophysiological bacteria fitness, the bacterium–fungal combination boosted tomato and papaya plantlet growth when applied into the plant substrate under nursery conditions. Mutualistic interaction between mycosphere-colonizing bacterium S. marcescens UENF-22GI and the saprotrophic fungi T. longibrachiatum UENF-F467 increased the ecological fitness of the bacteria alongside with beneficial potential for plant growth. A proper combination and delivery of mutual compatible beneficial bacteria–fungal represent an open avenue for microbial-based products for the biological enrichment of plant substrates in agricultural systems.
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The taxonomic affiliation sequences were deposited in the NCBI database under submission code MF497762.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by FAPERJ Grant nº E-26/203.003/2017, CNPq Grant nº 314263/2018-7, Newton Fund Grant BB/N013476/1 “Understanding and Exploiting Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Improvement of Brazilian Agriculture,” co-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa (CONFAP) and FINEP-PLURICANA financially supported this study. Also, we are grateful for the strong support of Dr. Vicente Mussi Dias (LEF/UENF) with the morphological taxonomy of the fungal and Dr. Roselaine Sanchez da Silva de Oliveira that isolate the fungi. This study is part of the first author (RJAR) PhD, grateful for the fellowship conceded by CAPES.
Funding
The research leading to these results received funding from Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) under Grant Agreement No. E-26/203.003/2017, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) under Grant Agreement No. 314263/2018-7, Newton Fund under Grant Agreement No. BB/N013476/1 “Understanding and Exploiting Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Improvement of Brazilian Agriculture,” co-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa (CONFAP). This study is part of the first author (RJAR) PhD, grateful for the fellowship conceded by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).
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FLO: conceptualization, methodology, writing, original draft, funding acquisition, supervision; RJAR: investigation, formal analysis, original draft; AFA: microscopy formal analysis; LOR: formal analysis, visualization, data curation; PHDS: investigation, formal analysis, validation, visualization for fungal taxonomy position; LPC: conceptualization, resources, formal analysis, writing—review and editing; SFS: conceptualization, writing—review and editing.
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de Andrade Reis, R.J., Alves, A.F., dos Santos, P.H.D. et al. Mutualistic interaction of native Serratia marcescens UENF-22GI with Trichoderma longibrachiatum UENF-F476 boosting seedling growth of tomato and papaya. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 37, 211 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03179-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03179-z