Improvement of phosphate solubilization and Medicago plant yield by an indole-3-acetic acid-overproducing strain of Sinorhizobium meliloti

Appl Environ Microbiol. 2010 Jul;76(14):4626-32. doi: 10.1128/AEM.02756-09. Epub 2010 May 28.

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the most limiting factors for plant growth. Some microorganisms improve the uptake and availability of N and P, minimizing chemical fertilizer dependence. It has been published that the RD64 strain, a Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 strain engineered to overproduce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), showed improved nitrogen fixation ability compared to the wild-type 1021 strain. Here, we present data showing that RD64 is also highly effective in mobilizing P from insoluble sources, such as phosphate rock (PR). Under P-limiting conditions, the higher level of P-mobilizing activity of RD64 than of the 1021 wild-type strain is connected with the upregulation of genes coding for the high-affinity P transport system, the induction of acid phosphatase activity, and the increased secretion into the growth medium of malic, succinic, and fumaric acids. Medicago truncatula plants nodulated by RD64 (Mt-RD64), when grown under P-deficient conditions, released larger amounts of another P-solubilizing organic acid, 2-hydroxyglutaric acid, than plants nodulated by the wild-type strain (Mt-1021). It has already been shown that Mt-RD64 plants exhibited higher levels of dry-weight production than Mt-1021 plants. Here, we also report that P-starved Mt-RD64 plants show significant increases in both shoot and root fresh weights when compared to P-starved Mt-1021 plants. We discuss how, in a Rhizobium-legume model system, a balanced interplay of different factors linked to bacterial IAA overproduction rather than IAA production per se stimulates plant growth under stressful environmental conditions and, in particular, under P starvation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomass
  • Fumarates / metabolism
  • Indoleacetic Acids / metabolism*
  • Malates / metabolism
  • Medicago truncatula / growth & development*
  • Medicago truncatula / metabolism*
  • Medicago truncatula / microbiology
  • Phosphates / metabolism*
  • Root Nodules, Plant / microbiology
  • Sinorhizobium meliloti / enzymology*
  • Sinorhizobium meliloti / metabolism*
  • Succinic Acid / metabolism

Substances

  • Fumarates
  • Indoleacetic Acids
  • Malates
  • Phosphates
  • indoleacetic acid
  • malic acid
  • fumaric acid
  • Succinic Acid