Motility and biofilm production involved in the interaction of phosphate solubilizing endophytic strains with peanut, maize and soybean plants

Abstract

Endophytic plant growth promoting bacteria are of great interest since the ability to colonize the internal tissues of plants gives it an adaptive advantage. To confer any beneficial effect on the plant, bacteria must present a successful colonization and thus be competent in the rhizosphere and finally infect internal tissues. In this sense, bacterial motility is an essential property involved in plant-microorganism interaction where bacteria can colonize the root and at the same time form biofilms. Within plant beneficial bacteria those that present phosphate solubilizing activity are of great interest due to the contribution of phosphorus to plants. The objective of this work was to evaluate the motility and biofilm formation properties of the strains Serratia sp. S119 and Enterobacter sp. J49 growing in the presence of peanut, maize and soybean root exudates. Results obtained indicated that both strains have flagella, possess swimming, swarming and twitching motilities and showed differential chemotactic attraction against root exudates. In addition, the strains under study showed the ability to form biofilms, being this ability greater in minimal media, in which a greater decrease was also seen by the addition of root exudates in the first hours of growth. The changes produced by the addition of root exudates in the chemotaxis and biofilm formation of the strains suggests that compounds released by the plants are detected by these bacteria and could be part of the molecular dialogue involved in their interaction with the roots of plant.