Endophytic bacteria in cacti seeds can improve the development of cactus seedlings |
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Authors: | M. Esther Puente Ching Y. Li Yoav Bashan |
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Affiliation: | aEnvironmental Microbiology Group, Northwestern Center for Biological Research (CIBNOR), Mar Bermejo 195, Colonia Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz, B.C.S. 23090, Mexico;bPacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;cDepartment of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, 429 Shantz Building #38, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA |
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Abstract: | A plant–bacterium association between the giant cardon cactus Pachycereus pringlei and endophytic bacteria help seedlings establish and grow on barren rock. This cactus, together with other desert plants, is responsible for weathering ancient lava flows in the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. When cardon seeds are inoculated with endophytic bacteria, the seedlings grow in pulverized rock for at least a year without fertilization and without showing distress. The bacteria–plant association released significant amounts of necessary nutrients from the substrate. When endophytic bacteria were eliminated from the seeds by antibiotics, development of seedlings stopped. In complementary experiments of sterile seeds inoculated with the same endophytic bacteria, plant growth was restored. This study and the previous one show that, under extreme environmental conditions, a symbiotic relationship is present between endophytic bacteria and their cactus host. |
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Keywords: | Bacillus Cactus Cardon Desert Rock degradation Nitrogen fixation Pachycereus Phosphate solubilization Rock weathering Soil formation |
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