Farm Table says:
Diversity of cultivable bacterial endophytes in Guarana (Paullinia cupana) and their potential for plant growth promotion and phytopathogen control.
What is the problem?
Endophytic bacteria are bacteria that live within a plant without causing disease, and in some cases may help to induce the host plant systemic resistance to pathogens and growth. The researchers investigated whether plant endophytic microbes help to increase resistance in Guarana and Sorghum against plant pathogens and help to enhance plant growth.
What did the research involve?
- Endophytic microbial communites were identified from Paullinia cupana, commonly named Guarana, and different factors such as plant genotype, geographic location or specific plant organs were recorded to observe if differences were seen.
- The plant growth-promoting ability of selected endophytic bacterial strains were assessed in Sorghum bicolor (Sorghum).
- Endophytic bacteria were isolated from tissues of three organs (root, leaf, and seed) of plants from the four different endophytic microbe communities.
What were the key findings?
- The endophytic community of Guarana was identified as a potential tool for application to improve the productivity of crops.
- The bacterial strains of the Pantoea genus found in Guarana may also be promising tools for the biological control of plant pathogens.
- Different microbial strains showed different traits, including some Nocardioides aromaticivorans-R21 improving growth in Sorghum.
Final comment
The authors have identified isolated endophytic bacterial strains that may be applied to both help control plant pathogens, and encourage growth. The study provides a basis for further investigation of real life applications.
This paper was summarised by Luke Stafford (Bachelor of Biological Sciences with Honours – Botany and Genetics Majors (La Trobe University) and reviewed by Nickala Best (PhD Student (La Trobe University). Learn more about Luke and Nickala here.
