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Cytokinin producing bacteria enhance plant growth in drying soil

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Abstract

Cytokinins can promote stomatal opening, stimulate shoot growth and decrease root growth. When soil is drying, natural cytokinin concentrations decrease in association with stomatal closure and a redirection of growth away from the shoots to the roots. We asked if decreased cytokinin concentrations mediate these adaptive responses by lessening water loss and promoting root growth thereby favouring exploration for soil water. Our approach was to follow the consequences for 12-d-old lettuce seedlings of inoculating the growing medium with cytokinin-producing bacteria under conditions of water sufficiency and deficit. Inoculation increased shoot cytokinins as assessed by immunoassay and mass spectrometry. Inoculation also promoted the accumulation of shoot mass and shortened roots while having a smaller effect on root mass. Inoculation did not raise stomatal conductance. The possible promoting effect of these cytokinins on stomatal conductance was seemingly hampered by increases in shoot ABA that inoculation also induced. Inoculation lowered root/shoot ratios by stimulating shoot growth. The effect was greater in non-droughted plants but remained sufficiently strong for shoot mass of inoculated droughted plants to exceed that of well-watered non-inoculated plants. We conclude that compensating for the loss of natural cytokinins in droughted plants interferes with the suppression of shoot growth and the enhancement of root elongation normally seen in droughted plants.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financed by a post-doctoral research grant from the University of Antwerp Belgium to Dr Tatyana Arkhipova and was supported by the Russian Foundation of Fundamental Research Grant 05-04-50824 and 06-04-49166.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Institute of Biology, Ufa Research Centre of RAS, pr. Oktyabrya, 69, Ufa, Russia

    T. N. Arkhipova, E. V. Martinenko, A. I. Melentiev & G. R. Kudoyarova

  2. Department of Biology, Laboratory for Plant Biochemistry and Physiology, University of Antwerpen, 2610, Antwerpen, Belgium

    E. Prinsen

  3. Biological Faculty, Bashkir State University, Ufa, Russia

    S. U. Veselov

Authors
  1. T. N. Arkhipova
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  2. E. Prinsen
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  3. S. U. Veselov
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  4. E. V. Martinenko
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  5. A. I. Melentiev
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  6. G. R. Kudoyarova
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Correspondence to G. R. Kudoyarova.

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Arkhipova, T.N., Prinsen, E., Veselov, S.U. et al. Cytokinin producing bacteria enhance plant growth in drying soil. Plant Soil 292, 305–315 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9233-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9233-5

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