Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are a functionally diverse group of microbes having immense potential as biostimulants and stress alleviators. Their exploitation in agro-ecosystems as an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to traditional chemical inputs may positively affect agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. The present study describes selected rhizobacteria, from a range of origins, having plant growth promoting potential under controlled conditions. A total of 98 isolates (ectophytic or endophytic) from various crop and uncultivated plants were screened, out of which four endophytes (n, L, K and Y) from Phalaris arundinacea, Solanum dulcamara, Scorzoneroides autumnalis, and Glycine max, respectively, were selected in vitro for their vegetative growth stimulating effects on Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 seedlings with regard to leaf surface area and shoot fresh weight. A 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis of the strains indicated that these isolates belong to the genera Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Mucilaginibacter and Rhizobium. Strains were then further tested for their effects on abiotic stress alleviation under both Petri-plate and pot conditions. Results from Petri-dish assay indicated strains L, K and Y alleviated salt stress in Arabidopsis seedlings, while strains K and Y conferred increases in fresh weight and leaf area under osmotic stress. Results from subsequent in vivo trials indicated all the isolates, especially strains L, K and Y, distinctly increased A. thaliana growth under both normal and high salinity conditions, as compared to control plants. The activity of antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase, catalase and peroxidase), proline content and total antioxidative capacity also differed in the inoculated A. thaliana plants. Furthermore, a study on spatial distribution of the four strains, using either conventional Petri-plate counts or GFP-tagged bacteria, indicated that all four strains were able to colonize the endosphere of A. thaliana root tissue. Thus, the study revealed that the four selected rhizobacteria are good candidates to be explored as plant growth stimulators, which also possess salt stress mitigating property, partially by regulating osmolytes and antioxidant enzymes. Moreover, the study is the first report of Scorzoneroides autumnalis (fall dandelion) and Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet) associated endophytes with PGP effects.

Climate change, environmental pollution and associated abiotic stresses are beginning to meaningfully affect agricultural production worldwide. Salt stress is, however, one of the most important threats that significantly impairs plant growth and development. Plants in their early growth stages such as seed germination, seed emergence and early seedling growth are very sensitive to salt stress. Among the range of sustainable techniques adopted to improve seed germination and early plant growth is seed priming; however, with the use of ecofriendly substances, this is one of the most effective and economically viable techniques to improve seed tolerance against such environmental stresses. For instance, priming with appropriate non-synthetic compounds including microbial biostimulants are prominent ways to sustainably address these challenges. Therefore, in this research, by using the “priming technique”, two biostimulants were tested for their potential as sustainable approaches to improve canola and soybean seed germination under salt stress and optimal growth conditions. Canola and soybean seeds were primed with flavonoids extracted from citrus fruits (flavopriming) and cell-free supernatant (CFS; produced by a novel strain of Devosia sp.—SL43), alone and in combination, and exposed to low–higher levels of salt stress and ideal growth conditions. Both biostimulants showed promising effects by significantly improving seed germination of soybean and canola under both ideal and stressful conditions. However, increases in seed germination were greater under salinity stress as flavonoids and CFS with stress amelioration effects showed substantial and statistically significant improvements in seed germination under varying levels of salt stress. In addition, combinations (mixtures) of both biostimulants were tested to determine if their effects might be more additive or multiplicative than the individual applications. However, results suggested incompatibility of both biostimulants as none of the combinations showed better results than that of the individual applications of either flavonoids or CFS. Conceivably, the use of flavonoids and this novel Devosia sp. CFS could be significant plant growth enhancers, perhaps much better than the few other biostimulants and bacterial-based compounds currently in use.

It is well-known that there is a high frequency of plant-growth-promoting strains in Bacillus subtilis and that these can be effective under both stressful and stress-free conditions. There are very few studies of this activity in the case of Lactobacillus helveticus. In this study, the effects of pH on the secretome (proteins) in the cell-free supernatants of two bacterial strains were evaluated. The bacteria were cultured at pH 5, 7 and 8, and their secretome profiles were analyzed, with pH 7 (optimal growth pH) considered as the “control”. The results showed that acidity (lower pH 5) diminishes the detectable production of most of the secretome proteins, whereas alkalinity (higher pH 8) increases the detectable protein production. At pH 5, five (5) new proteins were produced by L. helveticus, including class A sortase, fucose-binding lectin II, MucBP-domain-containing protein, SLAP-domain-containing protein and hypothetical protein LHEJCM1006_11110, whereas for B. subtilis, four (4) types of proteins were uniquely produced (p ≤ 0.05), including helicase-exonuclease AddAB subunit AddB, 5-methyltetrahydropteroyltriglutamate-homocysteine S-methyltransferase, a cluster of ABC-F family ATP-binding-cassette-domain-containing proteins and a cluster of excinuclease ABC (subunit B). At pH 8, Bacillus subtilis produced 56 unique proteins. Many of the detected proteins were involved in metabolic processes, whereas the others had unknown functions. The unique and new proteins with known and unknown functions suggest potential the acclimatization of the microbes to pH stress.

Agriculture involving industrial fertilizers is another major human made contributing factor to soil pH variation after natural factors such as soil parent rock, weathering time span, climate, and vegetation. The current study assessed the potential effect of cell-free supernatant (CFS) obtained from Bacillus subtilis EB2004S and Lactobacillus helveticus EL2006H cultured at three pH levels (5, 7, and 8) on potato (var Goldrush) growth enhancement in a greenhouse pot experiment. The results showed that CFSs obtained from B. subtilis EB2004S and L. helveticus EL2006H cultured at pH 5 significantly improved photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance, root fresh weight, and whole plant fresh weight. interactive effects of pot pH and that of CFSs obtained from pH 5 influenced chlorophyll, plant height, and shoot and whole plant fresh weight. Moreover, treatment 52EB2004S~0.4% initiated early tuberization for potato grown at pH 7 and 8. Potato grown at pH 5, which received a 72EB2004S~0.4% CFS treatment, had greater whole plant fresh and dry weight than that treated with L. helveticus EL2006H CFS and a positive control. Taken together, the findings of this study are unique in that it probed the effect of CFS produced under differing pH conditions which revealed a new possibility to mitigate stresses in plants.