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Compositions and methods for increasing biomass, iron concentration, and tolerance to pathogens in plants

a technology of biomass and iron concentration, applied in the field of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, can solve the problems of affecting the frequency and intensity of drought, severely restricting or even eliminating crop production, and limiting crop production globally, so as to inhibit the infection of plants and be used safely for humans

Inactive Publication Date: 2011-09-01
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for producing a greater biomass in a plant comprising administering Bacillus subtilis FB17 to the plant, plant seed, or soil surrounding the plant or plant seed in an amount effective to produce a greater biomass in the plant compared to an untreated plant.
[0011]Another embodiment provides a method for producing a decreased lignin concentration in a plant comprising administering Bacillus subtilis FB17 to the plant, plant seed, or soil surrounding the plant or plant seed in an amount effective to produce a decreased lignin concentration in the plant compared to an untreated plant.
[0014]Another embodiment provides a method for inhibiting growth of a plant fungal pathogen and infection of a plant, particularly a rice plant, by a fungal pathogen, particularly rice blast, comprising administering Bacillus subtilis FB17 to the plant, the seed of the plant, or soil surrounding the plant or the seed in an amount effective to inhibit infection of the plant by the fungal pathogen.

Problems solved by technology

However, the development of biofuel and renewable technologies adds to this challenge since they have also become an increasingly important priority.
The multitude of different geographic environments and climates throughout the world present different types of challenges in generating increased biomass and yield potential in crop plants.
Drought is a major factor which limits crop production globally.
Long-term drought or short-term drought in the growing season can severely limit or even eliminate crop production.
Changes in global weather patterns have affected the frequency and intensity of drought, even in prime cropping regions of the world.
Nutrient availability also limits crop production.
Soil augmentation with nutrients is costly and energy intensive, and even when nutrients are available in sufficient quantities, crop plants are sometimes inefficient at nutrient uptake.
Poor uptake of essential nutrients results in lower yields and food crops with lower nutritional values.
Pathogen stress also limits productivity.
Plants must invest energy to survive pathogen attack, and this diversion of energy results in lower yields.
Plants also modify their composition to restrict disease progression, and these changes often make crop processing more difficult.
Further, some crop pathogens cannot be limited effectively by genetic diversity, nor chemical control, and have significant impact on crop production globally.
It causes economically significant crop losses annually, contributing to an estimated 40% in crop yield.
Rice shortfalls contribute directly to human starvation.
The rice blast further contributes to crop loss and requires the use of additional resources to compensate for reduced yield.

Method used

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  • Compositions and methods for increasing biomass, iron concentration, and tolerance to pathogens in plants
  • Compositions and methods for increasing biomass, iron concentration, and tolerance to pathogens in plants
  • Compositions and methods for increasing biomass, iron concentration, and tolerance to pathogens in plants

Examples

Experimental program
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Effect test

example 1

[0061]Brachypodium distachyon and corn plants were germinated and grown for 21 days. Once in 5 days (3 times), 5 ml of 0.5 OD B. subtilis FB17 per pot was added. For control, 5 ml of 0.5 OD of E. coli OP50 per pot was added. FB17 and OP50 had been grown overnight in LB medium and optical density (OD) at wavelength (600 nm) was taken using SmartSpec (Bio Rad) spectrophotometer. Ten days after the final treatment, plants were analyzed. The controls described in all the experiments herein refer to plants that were not treated with bacteria or that were treated with E. coli OP50.

[0062]Brachypodium distachyon (Bd2-1) and corn plants treated with B. subtilis FB17, bacterial control E. coli, or mock treatment were grown in 4×4 inch pots in standard conditions (22-25° C., 60% humidity, 16 h light-8 h dark photoperiod) for 30 days post treatment. Aerial and root biomass of the energy crop B. distachyon increased with FB17 treatment. FIG. 1 shows that the biomass of B. distachyon treated with...

example 2

[0064]Arabidopsis thaliana seeds were germinated and grown for 21 days. Once in 5 days (3 times), 5 ml of 0.5 OD B. subtilis FB17 per pot was added. For control, 5 ml of 0.5 OD of E. coli OP50 per pot was added. FB17 and OP50 had been grown overnight in LB medium and optical density (OD) at wavelength (600 nm) was taken using SmartSpec (Bio Rad) spectrophotometer. Ten days after the final treatment, plants were subjected to drought (i.e., no water was added) at 25° C. with 40% humidity for 4 weeks. Thirty days post-treatment, drought was assessed through loss of stay green phenotype in the untreated plants compared to the FB17 treated plants, indicating that FB17 confers enhanced drought tolerance in Arabidopsis.

example 3

[0065]Seed treatment of B. subtilis FB17 promotes biomass enhancement in Corn Mo17, CML258, CML10, Zinnia, and Brachypodium distachyon.

[0066]To test the effect of B. subtilis FB17 on biomass enhancement in corn (Mo17, CML258, CML10), soybean (Will-82), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Zinnia, and Brachypodium distachyon (an energy crop model), 50 seeds (n=50) per plant species were seed treated with B. subtilis FB17 (about 1×107 cfu / seed or 12.5 ml / kg of 0.5 Optical Density (OD) Bacillus subtilis FB17 grown overnight in LB medium, at wavelength 600 nm as measured using a SmartSpec Bio Rad spectrophotometer). Post seed treatment seeds were individually sown in pots (4×4 inches) with a soil mix for germination and biomass studies. Interestingly, seed treatment of B. subtilis FB17 promoted root and shoot growth for all the tested crop species. Measurements were taken 15 days post treatment.

[0067]Seed treated plants promoted increased root biomass resulting in denser root systems rather ...

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Abstract

Methods for producing greater biomass in a plant, increasing the drought tolerance of a plant, producing a decreased lignin concentration in a plant, producing a greater iron concentration in a plant, or inhibiting fungal infection in a plant comprise administering Bacillus subtilis FB17 to the plant, the seed of the plant, or soil surrounding the plant or the seed in an amount effective to produce greater biomass, increase the drought tolerance, produce a decreased lignin concentration, produce a greater iron concentration, or inhibit fungal infection in the plant compared to an untreated plant, respectively. Agricultural carriers and seed coatings comprising Bacillus subtilis FB17 are provided. The biomass of a plant which has been administered Bacillus subtilis FB17 can be converted to a biofuel or can be used as a food crop or in other uses.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to application Ser. No. 61 / 309,134, filed Mar. 1, 2010, application Ser. No. 61 / 414,108, filed Nov. 16, 2010, and application Ser. No. 61 / 416,039, filed Nov. 22, 2010, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and for all purposes.STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT[0002]Research leading to the disclosed inventions was funded, in part, by National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant No. 0923806 and NSF Grant No. IOS-0814477, with technical support from the USDA Experimental Field Station in Georgetown, Del. at the University of Delaware. Accordingly, the United States Government may have certain rights in this invention.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0003]This invention relates generally to the use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria to enhance various characteristics of plant growth, including increasing biomass, increasing drought tolerance, decreasing lignin content, increasing seed germination, i...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): A01N25/26A01N63/00C10L1/00A01P3/00A01N63/22
CPCA01N63/00A01N63/02A01N25/00A01N2300/00Y02E50/10A01N63/22A01N63/10
Inventor BAIS, HARSHSHERRIER, DARLA JANINELAKSHMANNAN, VENKATACHALAM
Owner UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
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