Genomic and Functional Characterization of a Novel Burkholderia sp. Strain AU4i from Pea Rhizosphere Conferring Plant Growth Promoting Activities

Abstract

Members of Burkholderia genus are gaining importance for their application in crop improvement by acting as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), however, our knowledge about mechanisms of their plant growth promotion is limited. Herein, we aimed to isolate Burkholderia sp. from pea rhizosphere that confers plant growth promoting traits both in vitro and in vivo using pea seedlings as model. We have isolated a novel Burkholderia strain AU4i (B-AU4i) from pea rhizosphere that strongly promotes root and shoot growth in plantae. B-AU4i confers phosphate solubilization, indole-3-acetic acid production, N2 fixation, ammonia production, siderophore production, HCN production, and inhibits growth of pathogenic fungi both in vitro and in vivo experiments where we employed pea-seedlings as model system. Sequencing of B-AU4i genome using the Illumina-HiSeq 1000 technology reveals that it contains genes for the above-mentioned biofertilizer and biocontrol activities. The findings demonstrate the potential use of B-AU4i as plant growth promoter, which could be due to the presence of relevant genes in its genome. The current study improves our knowledge regarding the genes present in Burkholderia spp. that are involved in its plant growth promotion activities. B-AU4i strain can be used for improving agriculture productivity owing to its strong biofertilizer and biocontrol activity.