Enhancement of growth and salt tolerance of rice seedlings by ACC deaminase-producing Burkholderia sp. MTCC 12259

Increasing soil salinity is often associated with accelerated ethylene production in plants, leading to overall growth reduction. The salt-tolerant 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase-producing PGPR may alleviate salt stress by reducing the production of stress ethylene. In this study, a salt-tolerant ACC deaminase-producing strain named P50 was isolated from a coastal rice field in Odisha, India, which enhanced the growth of rice seedlings under salt stress. The P50 strain was identified as Burkholderia sp. based on phenotypic characteristics, MALDI-TOF MS data for ribosomal proteins and 16S rDNA sequence-based homology. Various PGP traits of strain P50 were characterized, among which the ACC deaminase activity was optimized at different physical conditions and confirmed by enzyme assay, as well as FTIR. The IAA, EPS and proline production of this strain were estimated under increasing NaCl concentrations essential for plant growth promotion under salt stress. Finally, the P50 strain was utilized in a gnotobiotic assay using rice seedlings (cv. Swarnamasuri) under saline stress. Seedlings treated with the P50 strain showed improvement in various morphological and biochemical characteristics, ROS scavenging antioxidant enzymatic activities, and reduced amounts of stress ethylene compared to non-inoculated strains under salinity. In addition, isolation of the ACC deaminase mutant of this strain was not found to reduce stress ethylene, confirming that the P50 strain was associated with a reduction in stress ethylene. Strain P50 was also found to colonize the root surfaces of rice seedlings associated with the plant-microbe interaction process. Thus, as an effective salt-tolerant PGPR, strain P50 can be utilized in salt-affected agricultural fields to improve plant growth in a sustainable manner.