Ayudantes preinstalados por la naturaleza: diversos endófitos de semillas mejoran la eficiencia de uso del nitrógeno...

Área de la Ciencia:

• Microbiology
• Plant Science
• Agronomy

Sus antecedentes:

• Nitrogen is crucial for crop yield, making nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) a key agricultural goal.
• Seed endophytic bacteria in rice, particularly under varying NUE, are underexplored.
• Understanding these microbial communities is vital for sustainable agriculture.

Objetivo del estudio:

• To analyze the community composition and functional traits of seed endophytic bacteria in rice varieties with different NUE.
• To identify specific bacterial strains with plant growth-promoting (PGP) capabilities.
• To evaluate the impact of these endophytes on rice growth and nitrogen utilization.

Principales métodos:

• Employed culture-independent and culture-dependent approaches to study endophytic bacterial communities.
• Utilized high-throughput sequencing for community composition analysis (OTUs).
• Performed in vitro assays for PGP traits and conducted inoculation experiments with selected strains.

Principales resultados:

• Diverse endophytic bacterial communities were found, with significant compositional differences among rice varieties.
• Rare taxa drove community diversity, while core taxa ensured stability.
• Five bacterial strains demonstrated multiple PGP traits (siderophore, phosphate solubilization, IAA) and improved rice growth, nitrogen accumulation, and NUE.

Conclusiones:

• Rice seed endophytic bacteria act as natural allies, supporting host growth and adaptation, especially in low-nitrogen conditions.
• These endophytes possess functional complementarity and contribute to NUE.
• They represent a valuable resource for developing next-generation biofertilizers for sustainable agriculture.