Production of indolic compounds by rhizobial bacteria

Abstract

Rhizobial bacteria, besides nitrogen fixation in symbiosis with legumes, can colonize the roots of nonlegumes and promote their growth by different mechanisms, independently of N2 fixation. Owing to this, rhizobia are considered a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Some of the mechanisms of PGPR activity are phytohormone production. Selection of rhizobia which possess some of PGP traits in vitro is an important step prior to testing their effects on plants in controlled conditions or field. In this work the ability of indole-3-acid (IAA) production, one of the most important phytohormone of the auxin class, was evaluated in different rhizobial strains. The investigated rhizobial strains were isolated from alfalfa (belonged to the genera Ensifer and Rhizobium) and from soybean (Bradyrhizobium and Rhizobium). Strains of all investigated genera produced IAA in the presence of L-tryptophan as precursor, where Ensifer strains produced the highest amount of IAA (more than 200 µg ml-1 ), followed by Rhizobium, while Bradyrhizobium strains produced the least amount of IAA (with some exceptions up to 15 µg ml-1 ). With the increase of L-tryptophan concentration, the amount of IAA produced usually grew. Strains with high IAA production indicate their plant growth promoting potential and represent the candidates for evaluation of their effects in non-legumes in controlled and field conditions.