Characterization of Tomato Seed Endophytic Bacteria as Growth Promoters and Potential Biocontrol Agents

Endophytic bacteria residing within plant seeds are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance plant growth and provide biocontrol against pathogens. Despite this, seed-borne endophytes remain underexplored in many crops, including tomato. In this study, we isolated and characterized bac...

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Main Authors: Mehwish Roy, Byeonghyeok Kang, Seongeun Yang, Heeyun Choi, Kihyuck Choi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hanrimwon Publishing Company 2024-12-01
Series:The Plant Pathology Journal
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Online Access:http://ppjonline.org/upload/pdf/PPJ-OA-09-2024-0142.pdf
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author Mehwish Roy
Byeonghyeok Kang
Seongeun Yang
Heeyun Choi
Kihyuck Choi
author_facet Mehwish Roy
Byeonghyeok Kang
Seongeun Yang
Heeyun Choi
Kihyuck Choi
author_sort Mehwish Roy
collection DOAJ
description Endophytic bacteria residing within plant seeds are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance plant growth and provide biocontrol against pathogens. Despite this, seed-borne endophytes remain underexplored in many crops, including tomato. In this study, we isolated and characterized bacterial endophytes from tomato seeds and evaluated their plant growth-promoting traits and antifungal activities. The taxonomic analysis of the Hawaii 7996 tomato seed endophyte collection revealed a diverse community, predominantly from the phylum Bacillota, with Paenibacillaceae and Bacillaceae as the most abundant families. Among the 35 unique strains identified, 19 produced indole-3-acetic acid, four exhibited siderophore production, and 12 could solubilize phosphate. These traits contribute to growth promotion and disease suppression in plants. In the plant growth promotion assay, several bacterial strains, notably Streptomyces olivaceus (BHM1), Streptomyces variegatus (BHM3), Bacillus stercoris (BHR2), and Moraxella osloensis (YHT4-1), demonstrated significant potential for tomato cultivation by positively affecting fresh weight, stem length, and root length. These strains consistently promoted growth across all three parameters evaluated in this study. Furthermore, several strains exhibited strong antifungal activity against major tomato pathogens, including Fusarium oxysporum race 1 and 2, and Botrytis cinerea. Notably, Bacillus subtilis (BHN1), Bacillus stercoris (BHR2), and Paenibacillus peoriae (YHR2-1) showed broad-spectrum antifungal efficacy. Our findings highlight the potential of seed-associated endophytic bacteria as growth promoters and biological control agents, offering promising avenues for sustainable agricultural practices.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-dc36e2f9e1554468af4f0d615a3d40f02024-12-06T07:37:43ZengHanrimwon Publishing CompanyThe Plant Pathology Journal1598-22542093-92802024-12-0140657859210.5423/PPJ.OA.09.2024.01422474Characterization of Tomato Seed Endophytic Bacteria as Growth Promoters and Potential Biocontrol AgentsMehwish Roy0Byeonghyeok Kang1Seongeun Yang2Heeyun Choi3Kihyuck Choi4Department of Applied Bioscience, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, KoreaDepartment of Applied Bioscience, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, KoreaDepartment of Applied Bioscience, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, KoreaDepartment of Applied Bioscience, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, KoreaDepartment of Applied Bioscience, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, KoreaEndophytic bacteria residing within plant seeds are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance plant growth and provide biocontrol against pathogens. Despite this, seed-borne endophytes remain underexplored in many crops, including tomato. In this study, we isolated and characterized bacterial endophytes from tomato seeds and evaluated their plant growth-promoting traits and antifungal activities. The taxonomic analysis of the Hawaii 7996 tomato seed endophyte collection revealed a diverse community, predominantly from the phylum Bacillota, with Paenibacillaceae and Bacillaceae as the most abundant families. Among the 35 unique strains identified, 19 produced indole-3-acetic acid, four exhibited siderophore production, and 12 could solubilize phosphate. These traits contribute to growth promotion and disease suppression in plants. In the plant growth promotion assay, several bacterial strains, notably Streptomyces olivaceus (BHM1), Streptomyces variegatus (BHM3), Bacillus stercoris (BHR2), and Moraxella osloensis (YHT4-1), demonstrated significant potential for tomato cultivation by positively affecting fresh weight, stem length, and root length. These strains consistently promoted growth across all three parameters evaluated in this study. Furthermore, several strains exhibited strong antifungal activity against major tomato pathogens, including Fusarium oxysporum race 1 and 2, and Botrytis cinerea. Notably, Bacillus subtilis (BHN1), Bacillus stercoris (BHR2), and Paenibacillus peoriae (YHR2-1) showed broad-spectrum antifungal efficacy. Our findings highlight the potential of seed-associated endophytic bacteria as growth promoters and biological control agents, offering promising avenues for sustainable agricultural practices.http://ppjonline.org/upload/pdf/PPJ-OA-09-2024-0142.pdfantifungal activitybiological control agentsplant growth-promoting bacteria (pgpb)tomato seed endophytes
spellingShingle Mehwish Roy
Byeonghyeok Kang
Seongeun Yang
Heeyun Choi
Kihyuck Choi
Characterization of Tomato Seed Endophytic Bacteria as Growth Promoters and Potential Biocontrol Agents
The Plant Pathology Journal
antifungal activity
biological control agents
plant growth-promoting bacteria (pgpb)
tomato seed endophytes
title Characterization of Tomato Seed Endophytic Bacteria as Growth Promoters and Potential Biocontrol Agents
title_full Characterization of Tomato Seed Endophytic Bacteria as Growth Promoters and Potential Biocontrol Agents
title_fullStr Characterization of Tomato Seed Endophytic Bacteria as Growth Promoters and Potential Biocontrol Agents
title_full_unstemmed Characterization of Tomato Seed Endophytic Bacteria as Growth Promoters and Potential Biocontrol Agents
title_short Characterization of Tomato Seed Endophytic Bacteria as Growth Promoters and Potential Biocontrol Agents
title_sort characterization of tomato seed endophytic bacteria as growth promoters and potential biocontrol agents
topic antifungal activity
biological control agents
plant growth-promoting bacteria (pgpb)
tomato seed endophytes
url http://ppjonline.org/upload/pdf/PPJ-OA-09-2024-0142.pdf
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