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The class IId bacteriocin thuricin-17 increases plant growth

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Abstract

The mechanisms by which many plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) affect plants are unknown. We recently isolated a rhizosphere bacterium (Bacillus thuringiensis NEB17), that promotes soybean growth and screened the liquid growth medium in which it grew for plant growth stimulating materials. We have also shown that it produces a bacteriocin (named by us as thuricin-17 and a member of the recently described class IId bacteriocins). Here we show that application of this bacteriocin to leaves (spray) or roots (drench) directly stimulates the growth of both a C3 dicot (soybean) and a C4 monocot (corn). This growth stimulation is similar in nature to that previously seen when plants are treated with Nod factors. Strain NEB17 contains three copies of the gene for thuricin 17 that code for identical amino acid sequences. These two lines of evidence suggest that the dual functions of these proteins may have constrained their evolution. This is the first report of direct plant growth enhancement by a bacteriocin.

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Abbreviations

HPLC:

High pressure liquid chromatography

PGPR:

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria

ePGPR:

Extracellular plant growth promoting rhizobacteria

iPGPR:

Intracellular plant growth promoting rhizobacteria

kDa:

Kilo Daltan

LCOs:

Lipo-chitooligosaccharides

MALDI–QTOF:

Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization–quadrapole time of flight

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by an NSERC strategic grant, an NSERC Research Network Grant, an NSERC Discovery grant and funding from the SEVE centre, all held by D. Smith.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oriental Medicine Materials, Dongshin University, 252 Daeho-dong, Naju, Jeonnam, 520-714, South Korea

    Kyung Dong Lee

  2. Department of Molecular Genetics, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mt Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, 600 University Av, Room 1081, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X5, Canada

    Elizabeth J. Gray

  3. Plant Science Department, Macdonald Campus, McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada

    Fazli Mabood, Alfred Souleimanov, Xiaomin Zhou & Donald Lawrence Smith

  4. Division of Applied Bioscience and Biotechnology, Environment-Friendly Agriculture Research Center (EFARC), Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Woo-Jin Jung

  5. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Trevor Charles, Scott R. D. Clark & Anh Ly

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  1. Kyung Dong Lee
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  2. Elizabeth J. Gray
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  3. Fazli Mabood
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  7. Anh Ly
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  9. Xiaomin Zhou
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  10. Donald Lawrence Smith
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Correspondence to Donald Lawrence Smith.

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Lee, K.D., Gray, E.J., Mabood, F. et al. The class IId bacteriocin thuricin-17 increases plant growth. Planta 229, 747–755 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0870-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0870-6

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