Abstract
Plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can promote plant growth and development with several beneficial effects, especially in challenging environmental conditions, such as the presence of toxic contaminants. In this study, 49 isolates obtained from Trifolium sp. nodules growing on a Pb/Zn mine site were characterized for PGP traits including siderophores production, phosphate solubilization, extracellular enzymes production, and antifungal activity. The isolates were also screened for their ability to grow at increasing concentrations of NaCl and heavy metals, including lead, zinc, cobalt, copper, nickel, cadmium, and chromium. The findings of our study indicated that isolates Cupriavidus paucula RSCup01-RSCup08, Providencia rettgeri RSPro01, Pseudomonas putida RSPs01, Pseudomonas thivervalensis RSPs03-RSPs09, and Acinetobacter beijerinckii RSAci01 showed several key traits crucial for promoting plant growth, thus demonstrating the greatest potential. Most isolates displayed resistance to salt and heavy metals. Notably, Staphylococcus xylosus RSSta01, Pseudomonas sp. RSPs02, Micrococcus yunnanensis RSMicc01, and Kocuria dechangensis RSKoc01 demonstrated a significant capacity to grow at salt concentrations ranging from 10 to 20%, and isolates including Cupravidus paucula RSCup01-RSCup08 exhibited resistance to high levels of heavy metals, up to 1300 mg/L Pb++, 1200 mg/L Zn++, 1000 mg/L Ni++, 1000 mg/L Cd++, 500 mg/L Cu++, 400 mg/L Co++, and 50 mg/L CrVI+. Additionally, the analysis revealed that metal-resistant genes pbrA, czcD, and nccA were exclusively detected in the Cupriavidus paucula RSCup01 strain. The results of this study provide insights into the potential of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria strains that might be used as inoculants to improve phytoremediation in heavy metal-contaminated soils.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author (Sarah Rahal) upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Benjamin Gourion for hosting Sarah Rahal in the Laboratory of Plant-Microbe Interactions (LIPM), for his help in the experiments, and for his extremely useful advice throughout this research. The authors would also like to thank Claire Benezech for her help and advice.
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This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Algeria. The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, or in writing the manuscript.
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Sarah Rahal conducted all the tests and experiments for this article and authored it. Belkis Menaa assisted with some tests and contributed to the writing of the article. Djamel Chekireb provided valuable input for the article's revision and correction.
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Rahal, S., Menaa, B. & Chekireb, D. Screening of heavy metal-resistant rhizobial and non-rhizobial microflora isolated from Trifolium sp. growing in mining areas. Environ Monit Assess 196, 283 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12445-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12445-0