Search

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an essential role in microbe–microbe and plant–microbe interactions. We investigated the interaction between two plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, and their interaction with tomato plants. VOCs produced byPantoea agglomeransMVC 21 modulates the release of siderophores, the solubilisation of phosphate and potassium byPseudomonas(Ps.)putidaMVC 17. Moreover, VOCs produced byP. agglomeransMVC 21 increased lateral root density (LRD), root and shoot dry weight of tomato seedlings. Among the VOCs released byP. agglomeransMVC 21, only dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) showed effects similar toP. agglomeransMVC 21 VOCs. Because of the effects on plants and bacterial cells, we investigated howP. agglomeransMVC 21 VOCs might influence bacteria–plant interaction. Noteworthy, VOCs produced byP. agglomeransMVC 21 boosted the ability ofPs. putidaMVC 17 to increase LRD and root dry weight of tomato seedlings. These results could be explained by the positive effect of DMDS andP. agglomeransMVC 21 VOCs on acid 3-indoleacetic production inPs. putidaMVC 17. Overall, our results clearly indicated thatP. agglomeransMVC 21 is able to establish a beneficial interaction withPs. putidaMVC 17 and tomato plants through the emission of DMDS.

Plant biostimulants (PBs) are an eco-friendly alternative to chemical fertilisers because of their minimal or null impact on human health and environment, while ensuring optimal nutrient uptake and increase of crop yield, quality and tolerance to abiotic stress. Although there is an increasing interest on microbial biostimulants, the optimal procedure to select and develop them as commercial products is still not well defined. This work proposes and validates a procedure to select the best plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) as potential active ingredients of commercial PBs. The stepwise screening strategy was designed based on literature analysis and consists of six steps: (i) determination of the target crop and commercial strategy, (ii) selection of growth media for the isolation of microbial candidates, (iii) screening for traits giving major agronomical advantages, (iv) screening for traits related to product development, (v) characterisation of the mode of action of PGPR and (vi) assessment of plant growth efficacy. The strategy was validated using a case study: PGPR combined with humic acids to be applied on tomato plants. Among 200 bacterial strains isolated from tomato rhizosphere, 39 % were able to grow in presence of humic acids and shared the ability to solubilise phosphate. After the screening for traits related to product development, only 6 % of initial bacterial strains were sharing traits suitable for the further development as potential PBs. In fact, the selected bacterial strains were able to produce high cell mass and tolerated drought, aspects important for the mass production and formulation. These bacterial strains were not able to produce antibiotics, establish pathogenic interaction with plants and did not belong to bacterial species associated to human, animal and plant diseases. Most importantly, five of the selected bacterial strains were able to promote tomato seedling vigour in experiments carried outin vitro. These bacterial strains were furtherly characterised for their ability to colonize effectively tomato plant roots, produce phytohormones and solubilise soil minerals. This characterisation led to the selection of two candidates that showed the ability to promote tomato plant growth in experiments carried out in greenhouse conditions. Overall, this work provides a flow diagram for the selection of PGPR candidates to be successfully developed and commercialized as PBs. The validation of the flow diagram led to the selection of two bacterial strains belonging toPantoeaandPseudomonasgenera, potential active ingredients of new commercial PBs.