Rhizosphere bacteria containing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase increase yield of plants grown in drying soil via both local and systemic hormone signalling

Decreased soil water availability can stimulate production of the plant hormone ethylene and inhibit plant growth. Strategies aimed at decreasing stress ethylene evolution might attenuate its negative effects. An environmentally benign (nonchemical) method of modifying crop ethylene relations - soil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The New phytologist 2009, Vol.181 (2), p.413-423
Main Authors: Belimov, Andrey A., Dodd, Ian C., Hontzeas, Nikos, Theobald, Julian C., Safronova, Vera I., Davies, William J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase
Abscisic Acid - metabolism
Acclimatization
Arid soils
Bacteria
Carbon-Carbon Lyases - genetics
Carbon-Carbon Lyases - metabolism
Dehydration
Drying
ethylene
Ethylenes - metabolism
hormone signalling
nodulation
Peas
Pisum sativum
Pisum sativum - growth & development
Pisum sativum - microbiology
Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria
Plant Growth Regulators - metabolism
Plant roots
Plants
Rhizobiaceae - genetics
Rhizobiaceae - metabolism
rhizosphere
Soil
Soil bacteria
Soil inoculation
Soil water
Variovorax paradoxus
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Summary:Decreased soil water availability can stimulate production of the plant hormone ethylene and inhibit plant growth. Strategies aimed at decreasing stress ethylene evolution might attenuate its negative effects. An environmentally benign (nonchemical) method of modifying crop ethylene relations - soil inoculation with a natural root-associated bacterium Variovorax paradoxus 5C-2 (containing the enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase that degrades the ethylene precursor ACC), was assessed with pea (Pisum sativum) plants grown in drying soil. Inoculation with V. paradoxus 5C-2, but not with a transposome mutant with massively decreased ACC deaminase activity, improved growth, yield and water-use efficiency of droughted peas. Systemic effects of V. paradoxus 5C-2 included an amplified soil drying-induced increase of xylem abscisic acid (ABA) concentration, but an attenuated soil drying-induced increase of xylem ACC concentration. A local bacterial effect was increased nodulation by symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which prevented a drought-induced decrease in nodulation and seed nitrogen content. Successfully deploying a single bacterial gene in the rhizosphere increased yield and nutritive value of plants grown in drying soil, via both local and systemic hormone signalling. Such bacteria may provide an easily realized, economic means of sustaining crop yields and using irrigation water more efficiently in dryland agriculture.
ISSN:0028-646X
1469-8137
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02657.x