Quality of Immature and Mature Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Seeds in Relation to Bio-Priming with Endophytic Pseudomonas and Bacillus spp.

Abstract

Fruit maturity for seed production can occur at various times because of the continual flowering of pepper plants. Accordingly, seeds with different maturity are acquired as the fruits are collected in a single harvest. Immature seeds obtained in this harvest may lead to a decrease in the quality of seed lots. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the influence of four different endophytic bacteria strains (Pseudomonas fluorescens strain L5b, Pseudomonas gessardii strain L13, Bacillus subtilis strain Bs1 and Bacillus mojavensis strain ApBm) on germination and seedling vigor of immature and mature bell pepper seeds. To obtain seeds with different maturity levels, fruits were collected 45–49 days after flowering for immature seeds and 65–69 days for mature seeds. The effectiveness of these bacteria strains was examined by coating seeds with four different endophytic bacteria strains separately. Additionally, to see the activity of endophytic bacteria more clearly, a mock treatment with sterile water was added to the experiment as a control (+) group. Bio-priming (especially strain Bs1 and L13) improved germination and seedling emergence characteristics of both immature and mature seed lots compared to control groups (p < 0.05). The results demonstrate that bio-priming with beneficial endophytic bacteria can be used to stimulate the quality of both immature and mature seeds from the pepper.

Drought stress tolerance and growth promotion in chiltepin pepper (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) by native Bacillus spp

“…Bolaños et al 30 reported a 23.61% higher germination in chili pepper seeds (C. annuum L.) inoculated with B. licheniformis M2-7. In another study, B. subtilis increased the germination of "Kandil Dolma" peppers by 14.68% 31 . The increases can be attributed to the production of bacterial-origin growth regulators, such as gibberellins, cytokinins, and auxins, as there is a direct relationship between the concentration of phytohormones and the physiological state of the chiltepin seed 32 .…”

“…Similarly, the production of exogenous auxins 31 , allows early root development 32 , through cell division and wall extensibility by enzymatic action 35 . In this study, chiltepin seeds had an overall germination time of 7.…”

Tomato and Pepper Seeds as Pathways for the Dissemination of Phytopathogenic Bacteria: A Constant Challenge for the Seed Industry and the Sustainability of Crop Production

“…The microbial communities associated with tomato seeds have been more extensively studied than the corresponding communities associated with pepper seeds: most published research focuses on beneficial endophytes as a significant portion of the total seed microbiome [24,25].…”

Tomato and Pepper Seeds as Pathways for the Dissemination of Phytopathogenic Bacteria: A Constant Challenge for the Seed Industry and the Sustainability of Crop Production

“…The microbial communities associated to tomato seeds have been more extensively studies than the corresponding communities associated to pepper seeds: most published research is focusing on beneficial endophytes as a significant portion of the total seed microbiome [25][26][27][28][29].…”