Isolation and Characterization of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria From Button Mushroom Compost

An auxin-producing bacteria (strain 5-1) was isolated from button mushroom compost in Boryeong-Si, Chungcheongnam-Do. The 5-1 strain was classified as a novel strain of Enterobacter aerogenes based on chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses. The isolated E. aerogenes 5-1 was confirmed to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), one of the auxin hormones, using TLC and HPLC analyses. When the concentration of IAA was assessed by performing HPLC quantitative analysis, a maximum concentration of IAA of $109.9mgL^{-1}$ was detected in the culture broth incubated in R2A medium containing 0.1% L-tryptophan for 24 h at $35^{\circ}C$. Acidification of the culture was deemed caused by an increase of IAA because a negative relationship between IAA production and pH was observed. Supplementation with a known precursor of IAA production, L-tryptophan, appeared to induce maximal production at 0.1% concentration, but it reduced production at concentrations above 0.2%. To investigate the growth-promoting effects to crops, the culture broth of E. aerogenes 5-1 was used to inoculate water cultures and seed pots of mung bean and lettuce. In consequence, adventitious root induction and root growth of mung bean and lettuce were two times higher than those of the control.