Class
Article
College
College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Amita Kaundal
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
Part of a plant’s biosphere are endophytes, microbes found between the cells of a plant. Plant-microbe relations are integral to plant survival and crop productivity, and can be beneficial to help a plant cope with abiotic stressors such as salinity. Our soils in Utah are high in salinity due to topography and climate. Climate change has increased soil salinity worldwide, and water availability is becoming scarcer, leading agriculture to use more saline sources to irrigate. Thus, salt is a concern for farmers. We aim to identify halotolerant endophytes which can benefit plant health. Microbes were isolated from Ceanothus velutinus, Snowbrush, a native plant to the Intermountain West region of the United States and that thrives in dry and semi-arid conditions. Roots were crushed and screened for bacterial growth on nutrient agar media with varying salt concentrations. Unique colonies were isolated using the streak plate method and identified by 16s rRNA sequencing. They were also tested for characteristics of nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and production of siderophore and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). From the Literature review, it has been found that many of our bacteria are known to be Plant-Growth Promoting Bacteria, or PGPB, including members from the genus Streptomycetes, Pseudomonas, Anthrobacter, and Bacillus. The identified endophytes were tested on crops Medicago sativa(alfalfa) and Zea mays(maize) in the greenhouse under control and saline conditions. Growth characteristics such as biomass, stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate, and electrolyte leakage were measured and compared. In the coming months, we will be screening the identified endophytes on model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and Medicago truncatula. Identification of a plant growth benefiting halotolerant endophyte can lead to the development of biofertilizers for saline soils and be utilized as a tool in sustainable and productive crop production for these harsh environments.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-8-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
Halotolerant Endophytes: Identification and Characterization of Plant-Growth Promoting Microbes in Saline Conditions
Logan, UT
Part of a plant’s biosphere are endophytes, microbes found between the cells of a plant. Plant-microbe relations are integral to plant survival and crop productivity, and can be beneficial to help a plant cope with abiotic stressors such as salinity. Our soils in Utah are high in salinity due to topography and climate. Climate change has increased soil salinity worldwide, and water availability is becoming scarcer, leading agriculture to use more saline sources to irrigate. Thus, salt is a concern for farmers. We aim to identify halotolerant endophytes which can benefit plant health. Microbes were isolated from Ceanothus velutinus, Snowbrush, a native plant to the Intermountain West region of the United States and that thrives in dry and semi-arid conditions. Roots were crushed and screened for bacterial growth on nutrient agar media with varying salt concentrations. Unique colonies were isolated using the streak plate method and identified by 16s rRNA sequencing. They were also tested for characteristics of nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and production of siderophore and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). From the Literature review, it has been found that many of our bacteria are known to be Plant-Growth Promoting Bacteria, or PGPB, including members from the genus Streptomycetes, Pseudomonas, Anthrobacter, and Bacillus. The identified endophytes were tested on crops Medicago sativa(alfalfa) and Zea mays(maize) in the greenhouse under control and saline conditions. Growth characteristics such as biomass, stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate, and electrolyte leakage were measured and compared. In the coming months, we will be screening the identified endophytes on model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and Medicago truncatula. Identification of a plant growth benefiting halotolerant endophyte can lead to the development of biofertilizers for saline soils and be utilized as a tool in sustainable and productive crop production for these harsh environments.