Paenibacillus lentimorbus alleviates nutrient deficiency-induced stress in Zea mays by modulating root system architecture, auxin signaling, and metabolic pathways.

Tanya Singh, Nikita Bisht, Mohd Mogees Ansari, Shashank Kumar Mishra, Puneet Singh Chauhan

Plant cell reports 2024 Feb 01

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Paenibacillus lentimorbus reprograms auxin signaling and metabolic pathways for modulating root system architecture to mitigate nutrient deficiency in maize crops. The arable land across the world is having deficiency and disproportionate nutrients, limiting crop productivity. In this study, the potential of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) viz., Pseudomonas putida, Paenibacillus lentimorbus, and their consortium was explored for growth promotion in maize (Zea mays) under nutrient-deficient conditions. PGPR inoculation improved the overall health of plants under nutrient-deficient conditions. The PGPR inoculation significantly improved the root system architecture and also induced changes in root cortical aerenchyma. Based on plant growth and physiological parameters inoculation with P. lentimorbus performed better as compared to P. putida, consortium, and uninoculated control. Furthermore, expression of auxin signaling (rum1, rul1, lrp1, rtcs, rtcl) and root hair development (rth)-related genes modulated the root development process to improve nutrient acquisition and tolerance to nutrient-deficient conditions in P. lentimorbus inoculated maize plants. Further, GC-MS analysis indicated the involvement of metabolites including carbohydrates and organic acids due to the interaction between maize roots and P. lentimorbus under nutrient-deficient conditions. These findings affirm that P. lentimorbus enhance overall plant growth by modulating the root system of maize to provide better tolerance to nutrient-deficient condition. © 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Citation

Tanya Singh, Nikita Bisht, Mohd Mogees Ansari, Shashank Kumar Mishra, Puneet Singh Chauhan. Paenibacillus lentimorbus alleviates nutrient deficiency-induced stress in Zea mays by modulating root system architecture, auxin signaling, and metabolic pathways. Plant cell reports. 2024 Feb 01;43(2):49