Root exudate components induced production of plant beneficial metabolites in rhizospheric Pseudomonas spp.

The present study has been designed to identify the impact of root exudate components on the profile of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by two rhizospheric Pseudomonas spp. For this, selected organisms were cultured in presence of tomato root extract or organic acids or sugars. From the culture extract, detection and identification of VOCs were carried out by GC-MS. Results of the study revealed the presence of five different compounds with antibacterial and two compounds with plant growth enhancing property in the crude extract from Pseudomonas sp. K6 and six different plant growth promoting compounds from Pseudomonas monteilii. These findings suggest the likely ability of these two isolates to get induced and release more plant beneficial VOCs especially gibberellin and salicylic acid at the rhizosphere region in presence of organic acids and sugars of plant exudome. The results further highlight the potential application of supplementation with root exudate compo-nents on functional enhancement of PGPR and thereby improved agricultural productivity.

Automated summary

The study aimed to investigate the effects of root exudate components on the VOC profiles produced by two rhizospheric Pseudomonas spp. Results showed the presence of antibacterial and plant growth enhancing compounds in the crude extracts from the two bacterial strains. This suggests the potential application of supplementing with root exudate components to enhance the functional capabilities of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and improve agricultural productivity.