Enhanced drought tolerance in maize conferred by a consortium of plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium strains
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DOI:10.7606/j.issn.1000-7601.2018.01.20
Key Words: maize  drought tolerance  plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR)  abscisic acid (ABA)
Author NameAffiliation
WANG Chao Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China
Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection of PR China, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210042, China 
LI Gang Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection of PR China, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210042, China 
XIE Yue-sheng Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China 
GAO Yan-lin Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China 
GUO Jian-hua Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China 
XU Quan Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China 
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Abstract:
      A consortium of plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) strains BBS was demonstrated to enhance tolerance to drought stress in plants. Here, under drought stress, physiological characteristics and transcription of stress-related genes in leaves of maize plants treated with BBS were investigated. After withholding watering for 15 days, BBS-treated maize seedlings had substantially lighter wilt symptoms than control plants. In relation to the control, BBS treatment decreased the leaf monodehydroascorbate (MDA) content by 25.65%, and increased the leaf proline and soluble sugars content by 3.39-fold and 7.28%, respectively. It activated significantly higher transcription of ZmP5CS1 gene, and significantly enhanced the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), a major antioxidant enzyme. Additionally, BBS inoculated plants had significantly lower leaf H2O2 content during drought stress than the control plants. Consequently, BBS efficiently extenuated the drought-induced injury in maize seedlings and facilitated post-drought recovery. Moreover, the stimulated expression of NCED1 and ZmDREB2.7 indicated the involvement of ABA-dependent and ABA-independent signaling pathways in BBS-maize interaction under water deficit.