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Assessment of the Role of Chemotaxis and Biofilm Formation as Requirements for Colonization of Roots and Seeds of Soybean Plants by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BNM339

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Abstract

This article correlates colonization with parameters, such as chemotaxis, biofilm formation, and bacterial growth, that are believed to be connected. We show here, by using two varieties of soybean plants that seeds axenically produced exudates, induced a chemotactic response in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, whereas root exudates did not, even when the exudates, also collected under axenic conditions, were concentrated up to 200-fold. Root exudates did not support bacterial cell division, whereas seed exudates contain compounds that support active cell division and high cell biomass at stationary phase. Seed exudates of the two soybean varieties also induced biofilm formation. B. amyloliquefaciens colonized both seeds and roots, and plant variety significantly affected bacterial root colonization, whereas it did not affect seed colonization. Colonization of roots in B. amyloliquefaciens occurred despite the lack of chemotaxis and growth stimulation by root exudates. The data presented in this article suggest that soybean seed colonization, but not root colonization, by B. amyloliquefaciens is influenced by chemotaxis, growth, and biofilm formation and that this may be caused by qualitative changes of the composition of root exudates.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial support received from the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (Grant No. PICT 01-10892); the Centro Argentino-Brasileño de Biotecnología (Grant No. 13AR-07BR); and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Grant No. PIP 5003). We thank F. del Norte for kindly supplying the seeds and the phenotypic characteristics of the soybean varieties used here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas y Fisiológicas CONICET-FAUBA, C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    P. M. Yaryura, M. León, O. S. Correa, N. L. Kerber, N. L. Pucheu & A. F. García

  2. Cátedra de Microbiología Agrícola and Facultad de Agronomía (UBA), C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    P. M. Yaryura, M. León & O. S. Correa

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  1. P. M. Yaryura
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  2. M. León
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  3. O. S. Correa
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  4. N. L. Kerber
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  5. N. L. Pucheu
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  6. A. F. García
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Correspondence to P. M. Yaryura.

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Yaryura, P.M., León, M., Correa, O.S. et al. Assessment of the Role of Chemotaxis and Biofilm Formation as Requirements for Colonization of Roots and Seeds of Soybean Plants by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BNM339. Curr Microbiol 56, 625–632 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-008-9137-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-008-9137-5

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