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Stenotrophomonas rhizophila DSM14405T promotes plant growth probably by altering fungal communities in the rhizosphere

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Abstract

Stenotrophomonas rhizophila DSM14405T is of high biotechnological interest as plant growth stimulator, especially for salinated conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of plant species (cotton, tomato, and sweet pepper) on colonisation and plant growth promotion of this beneficial bacterium in gnotobiotic systems and in non-sterile soil. All plant structures (leaves, stems, and roots) were densely colonised by DSM14405T reaching up to 109 cells g−1 fresh weight; under gnotobiotic conditions the abundances were 4–5 orders of magnitude higher than in non-sterile soil. Under non-sterile conditions and ambient humidity, tomato shoots were more densely colonised than shoots of sweet pepper and cotton. S. rhizophila DSM14405T was shown to grow endophytically and colonise the vicinity of root hairs of tomato. Plant growth promotion was particularly apparent in tomato. In general, the impact of plant species on colonisation and plant growth promotion was more pronounced in soil than under gnotobiotic conditions and likely due to the control of diseases and deleterious microorganisms. S. rhizophila DSM14405T was shown to control diseases in sweet pepper and in cotton. Molecular profiling via single strand conformation polymorphism of internal transcribed spacers and 16S rRNA genes (PCR-single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP)) revealed that S. rhizophila DSM14405T strongly affected fungal, but not bacterial communities in the rhizosphere of tomato and sweet pepper. Major SSCP bands related to uncultured fungi and Candida subhashii, disappeared in tomato rhizosphere after Stenotrophomonas treatment. This suggests an indirect, species-specific plant growth promotion effect of S. rhizophila via the elimination of deleterious rhizosphere organisms.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dilfuza Egamberdiyeva (Tashkent) for the provision of seeds, Michael Fürnkranz (Graz) for very valuable advices and Katja Drofenigg (Graz) for technical support. This study was funded by the Austrian Science Foundation FWF by a grant to G.B.

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  1. Julius-Kühn-Institute for Biological Control, Heinrichstr 243, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    Christoph Stephan Schmidt

  2. Graz University of Technology, Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Petersgasse 12, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Mohamadali Alavi, Massimiliano Cardinale, Henry Müller & Gabriele Berg

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  1. Christoph Stephan Schmidt
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Correspondence to Christoph Stephan Schmidt.

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Schmidt, C.S., Alavi, M., Cardinale, M. et al. Stenotrophomonas rhizophila DSM14405T promotes plant growth probably by altering fungal communities in the rhizosphere. Biol Fertil Soils 48, 947–960 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-012-0688-z

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