The aims of the present work were to isolate and characterize fungal endophytic communities associated with healthy wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants, collected from the North China. Segregated endophytes were screened for their PGP traits, abiotic stresses (heavy metals, salinity, drought, and temperature), and antibiotic sensitivity. A total of 16 endophytic fungi were isolated using the culture-dependent approach from different tissue parts of wheat plants. Based upon their internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA gene sequencing, 15 out of 16 isolates were selected for further analysis. In the contemporary investigation, a number of the tested endophytes exhibited fairly good 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase (ACCD) (0.03±0.011 to 1.43±0.01µmolα-KB mg⁻¹protein hr⁻¹), indole acetic acid (IAA) (1.125±0.04 to36.12±0.004µgml⁻¹), and phosphate solubilizing index (PSI) (2.08±0.03to5.16±0.36) activities. More than 30% isolates gave positive result for siderophore and ammonia tests, whereas all exhibited catalase activity but only 2 (582PDA1 and 582PDA11) produced hydrogen cyanide.Trichodermastrains showed salt, heavy metals, and drought tolerance at high levels and also exhibited resistance to all the tested antibiotics. Strain 582PDA4 was found to be the most temperature (55°C) tolerant isolate. The findings of this study indicated that the microbial endophytes isolated from wheat plants possessing a crucial function to improve plant growth could be utilized as biofertilizers or bioagents to establish a sustainable crop production system.

A novel Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped strain designated 166T was isolated from surface-sterilized root tissue of maize planted in the Fangshan District of Beijing, PR China. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain 166T belongs to the genus Rhizobium and is closely related to Rhizobium cellulosilyticum ALA10B2T and Rhizobium yantingense H66T with sequence similarities of 98.8 and 98.3 %, respectively. According to atp D and rec A sequence analysis, the highest sequence similarity between strain 166T and R. cellulosilyticum ALA10B2T is 93.8 and 84.7 %, respectively. However, the new isolate exhibited relatively low levels of DNA–DNA relatedness with respect to R. cellulosilyticum DSM 18291T (20.8±2.3 %) and Rhizobium yantingense CCTCC AB 2014007T (47.2±1.4 %). The DNA G+C content of strain 166T was 59.8 mol%. The main polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminophospholipid and an unidentified aminolipid. The major fatty acids of strain 166T were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c). The results of the physiological and biochemical tests and minor differences in the fatty acid profiles allowed a clear phenotypic differentiation of strain 166T from the type strains of closely related species, R. cellulosilyticum DSM 18291T and R. yantingense CCTCC AB 2014007T. Strain 166T represents a novel species within the genus Rhizobium , for which the name Rhizobium wenxiniae sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain 166T (=CGMCC 1.15279T=DSM 100734T).

A novel Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain 522^T, was isolated from surface-sterilized root tissue of maize planted in Fangshan District of Beijing, China. A polyphasic taxonomic study was performed on the new isolate. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies, this isolate belonged to the genus Flavobacterium and showed less than 93.9 % similarity to the type strains of all recognized species of the genus Flavobacterium. The predominant respiratory quinone was menaquinone-6 and the polar lipid profile was composed of the major lipids phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine and two unidentified amino lipids. The major fatty acids were C_15 : 0, iso-C_15 : 0, iso-C_15 : 1 G and iso-C_16 : 0.The G+C content of the DNA was 37.7 mol%. The results of physiological and biochemical tests and the differences in fatty acid profiles allowed the clear phenotypic differentiation of strain 522^T from closely related species of the genus Flavobacterium. Strain 522^T therefore represents a novel species within the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium endophyticum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 522^T ( = ACCC 19708^T = DSM 29537^T).

A novel Gram-staining-negative, aerobic, non-motile by gliding and rod-shaped strain designated 22T was isolated from surface-sterilized root tissue of maize planted in the Fangshan District of Beijing, People's Republic of China. The highest levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity were found with respect to Pedobacter suwonensis15-52T (97.5 %), Pedobacter terrae DS-57T (97.1 %) and Pedobacter alluvionis NWER-II11T (97.0 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence data indicated that strain 22T is a member of the genus Pedobacter. The isolate exhibited relatively low levels of DNA-DNA relatedness with respect to P. suwonensis DSM 18130T (21.3±2.0%), P. alluvionis DSM 19624T (38.1±1.8% ) and P. terrae DSM 17933T (17.1±1.4%). The DNA G+C content was 41.2 ±0.5 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7). The major component in the polyamine pattern was sym-homospermidine. The major polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified aminolipids and one unidentified lipid. The major fatty acids were identified as iso-C15 : 0 and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c). The results of the physiological and biochemical tests and minor differences in the fatty acid profiles allowed a clear phenotypic differentiation of strain 22T from the related species with high level 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity P. suwonensis DSM 18130T, P. alluvionis DSM 19624T and P. terrae DSM 17933T. Strain 22T represents a novel species within the genus Pedobacter, for which the name Pedobacter zeae sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain 22T (= CGMCC 1.15287 = DSM 100774).