The plant growth-promoting bacterium (PGPB) Pseudomonas putida UW4, previously isolated from the rhizosphere of common reeds growing on the campus of University of Waterloo, promotes plant growth in the presence of different environmental stresses, such as flooding, high concentration of salt, cold, heavy metals, drought and phytopathogens. The known mechanisms used by P. putida UW4 to promote plant growth include 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) synthesis and siderophore production. In this work, the genome sequence of UW4 was obtained by pyrosequencing and the gaps between the contigs were closed by directed PCR. The P. putida UW4 genome contains a single circular chromosome that is 6,183,388 bp with a 60.05% G+C content. The bacterial genome contains 5,431 predicted protein-coding sequences that occupy 87.4% of the genome. Nineteen genomic islands were predicted and thirty one complete putative insertion sequences were identified. Genome analyses were conducted in order to better characterize the general features of the UW4 genome. Genes potentially involved in plant growth promotion such as IAA biosynthesis, trehalose production, siderophore production, and acetoin synthesis were identified, which will facilitate a better understanding of the mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions. Moreover, genes that contribute to the environmental fitness of UW4 were also determined including genes responsible for heavy metal resistance such as nickel, copper, cadmium, zinc, molybdate, cobalt, arsenate, and chromate. Central metabolic pathways helped elucidate the physiological roles of diverse metabolites of UW4. Unexpectedly, whole-genome comparison with other completely sequenced Pseudomonas sp. revealed that UW4 is more similar to the fluorescens group rather than to the putida group. More surprisingly, a putative type III secretion system (T3SS) was found in the UW4 genome, and T3SS was thought to be essential for bacterial pathogenesis. Although putative T3SS was observed in other non-pathogenic Pseudomonas spp. previously, this is the first report indicating that a T3SS in a Pseudomonas sp. is highly similar to the one from Salmonella spp.

The plant growth-promoting bacterium (PGPB) Pseudomonas putida UW4, previously isolated from the rhizosphere of common reeds growing on the campus of University of Waterloo, promotes plant growth in the presence of different environmental stresses, such as flooding, high concentration of salt, cold, heavy metals, drought and phytopathogens. The known mechanisms used by P. putida UW4 to promote plant growth include 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) synthesis and siderophore production. In this work, the genome sequence of UW4 was obtained by pyrosequencing and the gaps between the contigs were closed by directed PCR. The P. putida UW4 genome contains a single circular chromosome that is 6,183,388 bp with a 60.05% G+C content. The bacterial genome contains 5,431 predicted protein-coding sequences that occupy 87.4% of the genome. Nineteen genomic islands were predicted and thirty one complete putative insertion sequences were identified. Genome analyses were conducted in order to better characterize the general features of the UW4 genome. Genes potentially involved in plant growth promotion such as IAA biosynthesis, trehalose production, siderophore production, and acetoin synthesis were identified, which will facilitate a better understanding of the mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions. Moreover, genes that contribute to the environmental fitness of UW4 were also determined including genes responsible for heavy metal resistance such as nickel, copper, cadmium, zinc, molybdate, cobalt, arsenate, and chromate. Central metabolic pathways helped elucidate the physiological roles of diverse metabolites of UW4. Unexpectedly, whole-genome comparison with other completely sequenced Pseudomonas sp. revealed that UW4 is more similar to the fluorescens group rather than to the putida group. More surprisingly, a putative type III secretion system (T3SS) was found in the UW4 genome, and T3SS was thought to be essential for bacterial pathogenesis. Although putative T3SS was observed in other non-pathogenic Pseudomonas spp. previously, this is the first report indicating that a T3SS in a Pseudomonas sp. is highly similar to the one from Salmonella spp.

The present work aimed to evaluate the influence of different methods of plant growth promoting bacterium (PGPB) Azospirillum brasilense inoculated at vegetative development and grain yield of corn in different relief zones. The research was carried in Cruzeiro do Sul (RS) with mechanized sowing of Velox TL® very early hybrid corn, in the 2015/2016 harvest. The treatments were: seed Inoculation and nitrogen fertilization (T1); directed spraying in furrow and nitrogen fertilization (T2); and control, only with nitrogen fertilization (T3). The experimental design was a factorial 3x3, considering three inoculation methods (seed inoculation, directed spraying in furrow and no inoculation) and three relief zones (high, medium and low levels), with three replications. The following variables were determinate: plant height, stem diameter, total dry matter and number of grains per plant. The data were submitted to the Tukey test, at 5% probability of error level. There was no interaction between inoculation methods and relief zones. Both directed spraying in furrow and corn seed inoculation with diazotrophic bacterium Azospirillum brasilense provided only a higher final average height of the plants, when compared to the traditional management, without the use of seed inoculation. Thus, Azospirillum brasilense promotes greater height development of Velox TL® hybrid corn, without, however, influence on stem diameter, total dry matter and number of grains per plant. Stem diameter variable was influenced by relief zones, which presents greater development in the average zone in comparison to the low zone, demonstrating the importance of precision agriculture that not consider areas as being homogeneous. / O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a influência do emprego de diferentes métodos de inoculação de bactérias promotoras de crescimento de plantas (BPCP) Azospirillum brasilense no desenvolvimento vegetativo e na produção de grãos da cultura do milho em diferentes zonas de relevo. O experimento foi conduzido em Cruzeiro do Sul (RS), com a semeadura mecanizada do híbrido de milho Velox TL®, de ciclo superprecoce, na safra 2015/2016, mediante a inoculação direta das sementes e aplicação de nitrogênio (T1); inoculação dirigida no sulco e aplicação de nitrogênio (T2) e a testemunha, com a aplicação de nitrogênio e sem inoculação das sementes (T3). O delineamento experimental foi um fatorial 3x3, considerando três métodos de inoculação (inoculação de sementes, aplicação dirigida no sulco e sem inoculação) e três distintas zonas de relevo (alta, média e baixa altitude), com três repetições. Foram determinadas as variáveis altura de planta, diâmetro do colmo, matéria seca total e número de grãos por planta. Os dados foram submetidos ao teste de Tukey, ao nível de 5% de probabilidade de erro. Não houve interação entre os métodos de inoculação e as zonas de relevo. A inoculação da bactéria diazotrófica Azospirillum brasilense, tanto no tratamento de aplicação dirigida no sulco, como na inoculação direta das sementes de milho, proporcionou apenas maior altura média final das plantas, quando comparadas ao manejo tradicional, sem a utilização de inoculação das sementes. Dessa forma, o Azospirillum brasilense proporcionou maior altura do milho híbrido Velox TL®, sem, contudo, influenciar no diâmetro do colmo, matéria seca total e número de grãos por planta. A variável diâmetro do colmo foi influenciada pela posição no relevo, que apresentou maior tamanho na zona de média altitude, em comparação com a de baixa altitude, demonstrando a importância da agricultura de precisão, ao não considerar as áreas como sendo homogêneas.