Biopriming with halotolerant microbes enhances growth performance, resilience and rhizospheric microbial diversity of Solanum melongena under saline conditions

Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Détails bibliographiques
Publié dans:Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB. - 1991. - 229(2025), Pt A vom: 19. Aug., Seite 110400
Auteur principal: Gupta, Shikha (Auteur)
Autres auteurs: Chauhan, Richa, Pandey, Sangeeta
Format: Article en ligne
Langue:English
Publié: 2025
Accès à la collection:Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB
Sujets:Journal Article Antioxidants Eggplant Metagenomic analysis PGPR Plant growth promotion Rhizosphere bacterial community Salinity stress
Description
Résumé:Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
The study demonstrated the beneficial effects of halotolerant Bacillus licheniformis O1 and Brevibacterium sp. O5 from the Aloe vera rhizosphere on aubergine growth performance in a saline environment (200 mM NaCl). qRT-PCR confirmed the upregulation of IAA biosynthesis genes (trpA and trpB), salt tolerance (kdpA, kdpB, nhaA), osmoprotectants (proA and proB), and antioxidants (sodA, sodB, and HPII) under saline conditions. This supports the intrinsic bacterial resilience of both the strains, which maintains cellular homeostasis under saline conditions (10 % NaCl). The strains exhibited multipartite PGP traits, including phosphate solubilization and the production of IAA, ammonia, siderophores, HCN, ACC deaminase, EPS, and biofilms. Furthermore, seed biopriming with a bacterial consortium synergistically improved the physiological and biochemical responses, including germination rate (87 %), total chlorophyll (by ∼1.10-fold), carotenoids (by∼1.55-fold), proline (by 4.56-fold), total soluble sugar (by 2.76-fold), and vegetative parameters, including shoot and root biomass (by 1.12- and 3.23-fold, respectively) of eggplants under saline stress. They mitigated salt-induced oxidative stress by reducing the H2O2 and O2. levels and MDA levels (by > 50 %) in plants, as confirmed by histochemical and quantitative assays. The key mechanisms involved in the enhancement of antioxidant activity (SOD, PPO, POD, APX, and CAT) by 1.71-13.21 times and non-enzymatic activity (phenolic and flavonoid content) by 2.39 and 4.07 times, respectively, in eggplants. The inoculants also improved soil resilience by increasing enzymatic activity (dehydrogenase, urease, amylase, and phosphatase) 0.74- to 12.7-fold under saline stress. Taxonomic analysis revealed that consortium inoculation increased species richness and relative abundance of beneficial bacteria in the eggplant rhizosphere, supporting enhanced soil and plant resilience to salinity stress
Description:Date Revised 24.08.2025
published: Print-Electronic
Citation Status Publisher
ISSN:1873-2690
DOI:10.1016/j.plaphy.2025.110400