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Improved heat stress tolerance of wheat seedlings by bacterial seed treatment

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Abstract

Aim

To investigate if rhizosphere bacteria can improve heat tolerance of wheat.

Methods

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) seeds of the cultivars Olivin and Sids1 were treated with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens UCMB5113 or Azospirillum brasilense NO40 and young seedlings tested for management of short term heat stress.

Results

Bacterial treatment improved heat stress management of wheat. Olivin showed higher heat tolerance than Sids1 both with non-inoculated and inoculated seeds. Heat increased transcript levels of several stress related genes in the leaves, while expression was lower in inoculated plants but elevated compared with the control. Enzymes of the ascorbate-glutathione redox cycle were activated in leaves after heat challenge but showed a lower response in inoculated plants. Metabolite profiling distinguished different treatments dependent on analysis technique with respect to primary and secondary metabolites. Analysis of some plant stress regulatory genes showed that bacterial treatment increased transcript levels while effects of heat treatment varied.

Conclusions

The improvement of heat tolerance by bacteria seems associated with reduced generation of reactive oxygen species (and consequently less cell damage), small changes in the metabolome while preactivation of certain heat shock transcription factors seems important. Seed inoculation with beneficial bacteria seems a promising strategy to improve heat tolerance of wheat.

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Abbreviations

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

DHAR:

Dehydroascorbate reductase

GR:

Glutathione reductase

HSF:

Heat shock transcription factors

HSP:

Heat shock protein

MDHAR:

Mono-dehydroascorbate reductase

PCA:

Principal component analysis

PGPR:

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SAM:

S-adenosylmethionine

SAMS:

S-adenosylmethionine synthetase

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the metabolomic analysis carried out by Dr. Jane Ward and colleagues at the National Centre for Plant and Microbial Metabolomics in Rothamstead, UK. The A. brasilense NO40 strain was kindly supplied by Prof. Nabil Omar, Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, Egypt. We also wish to thank Prof. Wedad Kasim and Prof. M. E. Osman, Tanta University, Egypt for their support. These studies were supported by FORMAS and SI. Funding for plant growth facilities were provided by KFI-VR.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala Biocenter, Linnean Center of Plant Biology in Uppsala, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7080, SE75007, Uppsala, Sweden

    Islam A. Abd El-Daim & Johan Meijer

  2. Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala Biocenter, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Linnean Center for Plant Biology, Box 7080, SE75007, Uppsala, Sweden

    Sarosh Bejai

  3. Department of Microbiology, Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

    Islam A. Abd El-Daim

Authors
  1. Islam A. Abd El-Daim
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  2. Sarosh Bejai
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  3. Johan Meijer
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Correspondence to Johan Meijer.

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Responsible Editor: Peter A.H. Bakker.

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Abd El-Daim, I.A., Bejai, S. & Meijer, J. Improved heat stress tolerance of wheat seedlings by bacterial seed treatment. Plant Soil 379, 337–350 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2063-3

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