Biotechnological potential of Pectobacterium sp. endophyte on the growth of soy and bean plants

Abstract

Fertilizers and chemical pesticides supply plants’ nutritional requirements and protect them against pathogens. However, they may cause harm to the environment. Pectobacterium sp. has been reported as an endophyte with the capacity of a plant-growth promoter, especially in the control of phytopathogens. The current paper evaluates the capacity of the endophytic bacterium Pectobacterium sp. MG-60 isolated from Mikania glomerata Spreng. (Asteraceae) to antagonize phytopathogens in vitro, produce IAA, and fix nitrogen (nifH). Growth promotion assessments of bean and soybean plants under greenhouse conditions were also performed. The rate of antagonism against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum was 52.5%. The endophyte Pectobacterium sp. MG-60 produced 3.54 µg mL-1 of IAA when 5 mM L-tryptophan in the culture medium was used. Under greenhouse conditions, significant results for Pectobacterium sp. MG-60 in the growth of soybean and common bean plants were observed, especially in the height of common bean (19%) and soybean (20%), fresh weight of shoot (18.5%) and fresh weight of roots (46.8 %) of soybean plants. This is the first report on Pectobacterium isolated as an endophyte from M. glomerata with plant growth-promoting agent abilities with biotechnological potential for the agricultural field.

Keywords

• endophyte
• iaa
• mikania glomerata
• nifh
• plant-growth promoter