Functional and Genomic Potential of Burkholderia contaminans PB_AQ24 Isolate for Boosting the Growth of Bamboo Seedlings in Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils

The present study investigated the genomic and functional potential of Burkholderia contaminans PB_AQ24, a bacterial strain isolated from the municipal solid waste dumpsite, for boosting the growth of Dendrocalamus strictus (Male bamboo) seedlings. The isolated strain exhibited high potency for metal solubilization and ACC (1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate) deaminase activity. Its genome harbored diverse genes responsible for nitrogen and phosphorus utilization (trpABCDES, iaaH, acdS, pstABCS, phoAUD, pqqABCDE, kdpABC, gln, and nirBD) and also an abundance of heavy metal tolerant genes (ftsH, hptX, iscX-fdx-hscAB-iscAUR, mgtA, corA, and copC). Seeds priming experiments carried out in heavy metal contaminated soils (such as waste dumpsite soil (WDS), fly ash dumpsite soil (FAS) and natural garden soil (NGS control)) augmented with Burkholderia contaminans sp. PB_AQ24 showed 85% sustenance of seedlings in WDS and 80% in FAS. The study thus highlighted the potential features in isolated bacterial strain Burkholderia sp. PB_AQ24 (NCBI accession no. JAQOUG000000000), which could boost the growth of bamboo seedlings in heavy metal contaminated soils and may be applied for restoration and rejuvenation of contaminated sites.