Salt stress and drought stress can decrease the growth and productivity of agricultural crops. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) may protect and promote plant growth at abiotic stress. The aim of this study was to search for bacterial strains that can help crops resist rises in drought and salt stresses, to improve crop seed resistance under drought and salt stresses, and to investigate the effect of bacterial strains that can help crop resist external stresses under different stress conditions. Pseudomonas DY1-3, a strain from the soil under the glacier moss community of Tien Shan No. 1, was selected to investigate its growth-promoting effects. Previous studies have shown that this strain is capable of producing ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid) deaminase. In this experiment, multifunctional biochemical test assays were evaluated to determine their potential as PGPB and their bacterial growth-promoting properties and stress-resistant effects on maize plants were verified through seed germination experiments and pot experiments. The results showed that strain DY1-3 has good salt and drought tolerance, as well as the ability to melt phosphorus, fix nitrogen, and produce iron carriers, IAA, EPS, and other pro-biomasses. This study on the growth-promoting effects of the DY1-3 bacterial strain on maize seeds revealed that the germination rate, primary root length, germ length, number of root meristems, and vigor index of the maize seeds were increased after soaking them in bacterial solution under no-stress, drought-stress, and salt-stress environments. In the potting experiments, seedlings in the experimental group inoculated with DY1-3 showed increased stem thicknesses, primary root length, numbers of root meristems, and plant height compared to control seedlings using sterile water. In the study on the physiological properties of the plants related to resistance to stress, the SOD, POD, CAT, and chlorophyll contents of the seedlings in the experimental group, to which the DY1-3 strain was applied, were higher than those of the control group of seedlings to which the bacterial solution was not applied. The addition of the bacterial solution reduced the content of MDA in the experimental group seedlings, which indicated that DY1-3 could positively affect the promotion of maize seedlings and seeds against abiotic stress. In this study, it was concluded that strain DY1-3 is a valuable strain for application, which can produce a variety of pro-biotic substances to promote plant growth in stress-free environments or to help plants resist abiotic stresses. In addition to this, the strain itself has good salt and drought tolerance, making it an option to help crops grown in saline soils to withstand abiotic stresses, and a promising candidate for future application in agricultural biofertilizers.

The elevation of the snowline of the No. 1 Glacier in the Tianshan Mountains is increasing due to global warming, which has created favorable conditions for moss invasion and offers an opportunity to investigate the synergistic effects of incipient succession by mosses, plants, and soils. In this study, the concept of altitude distance was used instead of succession time. To investigate the changes of bacterial-community diversity in moss-covered soils during glacial degeneration, the relationship between bacterial community structure and environmental factors was analyzed and valuable microorganisms in moss-covered soils were explored. To do so, the determination of soil physicochemical properties, high-throughput sequencing, the screening of ACC-deaminase-producing bacteria, and the determination of ACC-deaminase activity of strains were performed on five moss-covered soils at different elevations. The results showed that the soil total potassium content, soil available phosphorus content, soil available potassium content, and soil organic-matter content of the AY3550 sample belt were significantly different compared with those of other sample belts (p < 0.05). Secondly, there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the ACE index or Chao1 index between the moss-covered-soil AY3550 sample-belt and the AY3750 sample-belt bacterial communities as the succession progressed. The results of PCA analysis, RDA analysis, and cluster analysis at the genus level showed that the community structure of the AY3550 sample belt and the other four sample belts differed greatly and could be divided into two successional stages. The enzyme activities of the 33 ACC-deaminase-producing bacteria isolated and purified from moss-covered soil at different altitudes ranged from 0.067 to 4.7375 U/mg, with strains DY1–3, DY1–4, and EY2–5 having the highest enzyme activities. All three strains were identified as Pseudomonas by morphology, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. This study provides a basis for the changes in moss-covered soil microhabitats during glacial degradation under the synergistic effects of moss, soil, and microbial communities, as well as a theoretical basis for the excavation of valuable microorganisms under glacial moss-covered soils.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a crucial plant for saline and alkaline soil development, which is crucial for managing the salinization of global land resources. It can withstand saline and alkaline stress and can fix nitrogen. By secreting phytohormones, fixing nitrogen, and boosting antioxidant capacity, nitrogen–fixing bacteria, rhizobacteria, and other inter–root biotrophic bacteria encourage alfalfa development and reduce salinity stress. Alfalfa’s symbiotic association also encourages other plants to tolerate salinity and greatly boosts the amount of nitrogen in the soil. The mechanism by which inter–root growth–promoting bacteria mitigate saline and alkaline stress in alfalfa remains a prominent research focus. This paper reviews the current state of research on inter–root probiotic bacteria associated with alfalfa, utilizing literature mining to summarize the resource information of inter–root nitrogen–fixing bacteria found in saline–alkaline soils. We elucidate their nitrogen-fixing mechanisms and adaptive characteristics, explore their roles and potential applications in the improvement of saline–alkaline lands, and provide a theoretical foundation for the development of novel nitrogen–fixing bacterial fertilizers and restoration technologies for saline–alkaline environments.

A correction refers to a change to their article that the author wishes to publish after publication. The publication of this article is subject to Frontiers' editorial approval.• Please read through all the templates before choosing • Pick the most relevant text template(s) from the following page and delete all others.• Edit the text as necessary, ensuring that the original incorrect text is included for the record, please see the below. • Please do not use any extra formatting when editing the templates, and only modify the red text unless absolutely necessary • Submit to Frontiers following the instructions on this page.When the original text contained incorrect information, to preserve the scientific record, please include that text when editing the below templates. For example:There was a mistake in the Funding statement, an incorrect number was used. The correct number is '2015C03Bd051'. The publisher apologizes for this mistake.The original version of this article has been updated. Correction on: An M, Zhang L, Wang Q, Ren K, Wang Q, Lin D, Zhu Y and Fan Y (2025) Chitooligosaccharide composites enhanced the adaptability of cotton seedlings to salinized soil by modulating photosynthetic efficiency and metabolite. Front. Plant Sci. 16:1615321. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1615321 In the published article, there was an error in the Funding statement. [This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (2023D01C16), the "Tianchi Talents" Introduction Plan Project of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (510523005128) and the Science and Technology Plan Projects of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (202206120029).]. The correct Funding statement appears below.

Agricultural production on salinized lands is an important direction of current agricultural research. Chito-oligosaccharide has been used as an excellent soil amendment in recent years. However, the mechanism of chito-oligosaccharide composites (COS-PA) impacting cotton seedlings on salinized lands is still unclear. In this study, the metabolic mechanism of COS-PA regulating cotton salt stress resistance was investigated by measuring seedling growth, leaf ion content, photosynthetic characteristics, and widely-targeted metabolic profiles. The results showed that salt stress reduced the contents of K⁺ and Ca²⁺ and enhanced the content of Na⁺ in cotton leaves compared to the control, which inhibited leaf photosynthesis and seedling growth. COS-PA application decreased leaf Na⁺ content significantly in salt-stressed cotton seedlings by 69.70%, and increased the leaf Ca²⁺ content, fresh weight of each plant part, transpiration rate, leaf chlorophyll concentration (Chl a), actual quantum yield, as well as stomatal conductance by 7.22%, 46.33%-96.36%, 96.65%, 44.53%, 27.15%, and 168.24%, respectively, compared with the no COS-PA application treatment. COS-PA application regulated the abundances of key leaf metabolites (L-lactic acid, Succinic acid, Methylmalonic acid, Aconitic acid, Citraconic acid), alleviating the salt stress. Therefore, COS-PA application could improve cotton seedling’s salt stress resistance by adjusting the growth characteristics, photosynthetic characteristics, and carbohydrate metabolism of cotton seedlings. The research will advance understanding of mechanisms by which COS-PA regulates the salt stress resistance of cotton seedlings and offer a scientific basis for salinized soil remediation and cotton yield improvement in arid areas.

In this study, the strain CY-A, which has high feather degradation efficiency, was screened from the soil of a chicken pen. Bacillus tequilensis was identified by biological methods. The keratinase gene (bta) of Bacillus tequilensis CY-A was cloned by genetic engineering. The gene is 1110 bp in length, contains an open reading frame of 1089 bp and encodes 369 amino acids. The obtained gene sequence and amino acid sequence have been registered to GenBank under the database accession number OR733336.1. The physicochemical properties, secondary structure and tertiary structure of the protein were analysed by bioinformatics tools, and the relative molecular mass was found to be 37.953 kDa. The tertiary structure of keratin was 98.30% similar to that of Bacillus subtilis arpE. Finally, the keratinase gene bta was ligated to the expression vector pET28a (+) to construct the expression plasmid pET28a(+)-bta, which was subsequently transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3) to generate engineered recombinant bacteria. Recombinant keratinase Bta was purified using Ni²⁺ column affinity chromatography with a molecular weight of approximately 37.953 kDa. Further studies on its recombinant enzymatic properties revealed that the enzyme activity of Bta was 283.93 U/mL, the optimum pH was 8, and the optimum reaction temperature was 50°C. Ca²⁺ has a very significant role in promoting Bta. EDTA and SDS can significantly inhibit the enzyme activity of Bta, which indicates that the enzyme activity requires metal ions. At a concentration of 10 mmol. L-1, PMSF almost completely inhibited the enzyme activity of Bta, indicating that Bta is a typical serine protease. The identification of the keratinase gene provides a theoretical basis for further improving keratinase activity via genetic engineering.