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A Consortium of Three Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacterium Strains Acclimates Lycopersicon esculentum and Confers a Better Tolerance to Chilling Stress

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Abstract

Using beneficial microorganisms has emerged as a potential new solution to induce resistance to biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in several plant species. BBS is a consortium of three plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) strains (Bacillus cereus AR156, B. subtilis SM21, and Serratia sp. XY21) we screened for soil-borne disease control and registered as a biofertilizer that was recently found to be resistant to the adverse environment. The present study examines the effect of BBS on chilling (4 °C) tolerance in tomato seedlings and its mechanism. After 7 days of chilling treatment and 1 week recovery at normal 28 °C, BBS-treated tomato plants had a survival rate of 92.59 %, on average six times more than control plants (15.56 %). Compared with the control, the BBS treatment stimulated faster and higher accumulations of MDA and H2O2 as chilling stress started, which initiated mechanisms to efficiently attenuate the chilling-induced injury. Besides, in relation to the control, the significantly higher transcription of CBF1 in BBS treatment may lead to stress-related gene induction. These findings suggested that BBS acclimated tomato seedlings and induced tolerance to chilling by promoting soluble sugar, proline, and osmotin accumulation, enhancing the antioxidant defense system, and stimulating CBF transcription factors to activate stress-related genes. This is the first time that PGPR-induced acclimation has been shown to protect tomato plants against low-temperature stress.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31171809) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20131319).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests (Nanjing Agricultural University), Ministry of Education, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Chao Wang, Cui Wang, Yan-Lin Gao, Yun-Peng Wang & Jian-Hua Guo

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  1. Chao Wang
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  2. Cui Wang
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  3. Yan-Lin Gao
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  5. Jian-Hua Guo
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Correspondence to Jian-Hua Guo.

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Wang, C., Wang, C., Gao, YL. et al. A Consortium of Three Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacterium Strains Acclimates Lycopersicon esculentum and Confers a Better Tolerance to Chilling Stress. J Plant Growth Regul 35, 54–64 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-015-9506-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-015-9506-9

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