• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.spc
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• pp.20-28
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• 2009

The sustainability of conventional agriculture which is characterized by input dependent and ecologically simplified food production system is vague. Chemicals and present practices used in agriculture are not only costly but also have widespread implications on human and animal health, food quality and safety and environmental quality. Thus there is a need for alternative farming practices to sustain food production for the escalating population and conserve environment for future generations. The present research scenario in the area of plant microbe interactions for maintaining sustainable agriculture suggests that the level of internal regulation in agro-ecosystems is largely dependent on the level of plant and microbial diversity present in the soil. In agro-ecosystems, biodiversity performs a variety of ecological services beyond the production of food, including recycling of nutrients, regulation of microclimate and local hydrological processes, suppression of undesirable organisms and detoxification of noxious chemicals. Controlling the soil microflora to enhance the predominance of beneficial and effective microorganisms can help improve and maintain soil chemical and physical properties. The role of beneficial soil microorganisms in sustainable productivity has been well construed. Some plant bacteria referred to as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can contribute to improve plant growth, nutrient uptake and microbial diversity when inoculated to plants. Term PGPR was initially used to describe strains of naturally occurring non-symbiotic soil bacteria have the ability to colonize plant roots and stimulate plant growth PGPR activity has been reported in strains belonging to several other genera, such as Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Arthrobacter Bacillus, Burkhokderia, Methylobacterium, and Pseudomonas etc. PGPR stimulate plant growth directly either by synthesizing hormones such as indole acetic acid or by promoting nutrition, for example, by phosphate solubilization or more generally by accelerating mineralization processes. They can also stimulate growth indirectly, acting as biocontrol agents by protecting the plant against soil borne fungal pathogens or deleterious bacteria. Present review focuses on some recent developments to evolve strategies for better biotechnological exploitation of PGPR's.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.302-307
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• 2010

Nitrogen is an element need to grow plants growth. Plants take up nitrogen in the form of nitrate or ammonium. Most of plants absorb nitrogen source as fertilizers. But from 50 to 70% of fertilizers applied were washed away. This study was conducted to isolate free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria from reed and to examine its beneficial traits for developing sustainable biofertilizers. Enriched consortium obtained from a reed in Ansan was developed for the fixing of nitrogen. Nitrogen fixing bacteria isolated from an enriched culture in Congo Red Medium was analyzed by 16s rDNA sequencing. AKC-10 was isolated and shown to have excellent nitrogen fixing ability. The optimum conditions of nitrogen fixing ability were $25^{\circ}C$ ($237.50{\pm}39.65\;nmole{\cdot}mg-protein^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ and pH 7 ($168.335{\pm}12.84$ nmole/hr mg-protein). It was identified as Microbacterium hominis [(AKC-10 (similarity : 99%)]. This strain was had to IAA (indole-3-acetic acid) productivity and ACC(1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid) deaminase activity. Therefore, Microbacterium hominis AKC-10 stimulated plant development in the soil, enhancing the efficiency of remediation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.180-184
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• 2006

Nineteen nitrogen-fixing bacteria were isolated from rice roots cultivated in the southern part of the Korean peninsula. Among them, three isolates - Stenotrophomonas sp. KNUC89, Pseudomonas sp. KNUC116, and Delftia sp. KNUC133 - showed antifungal activities against phytopathogenic fungi Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum. Besides they could produce auxin and siderophores.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.9-17
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• 2011

Positive effect of multiple-PGPR (Plan Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria), isolated from heavy metal contaminated soil, on the germination of Barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli var. frumentacea) was quantitatively estimated in 5 heavy metal (Cd, As, Ni, Cu, and Pb) contaminated liquid medium. The $EC_{50}$ value for respective heavy metal was estimated by TSK (Trimmed Speraman-Karber) model based on germination rate. The results showed overall increase in $EC_{50}$ with PGPR inoculation. The $EC_{50}$ value increased 1.4% from 96.0 mg/L (control) to 97.4 mg/L (PGPR-treated) in As contaminated medium. In Ni contaminated medium, the $EC_{50}$ value increased 31.9% from 148.0 mg/L (control) to 195.2 mg/L (PGPR-treated), while the $EC_{50}$ showed 4.8% increase from 63.4 mg/L (control) to 66.5 mg/L (PGPR-treated) in Cu medium. Overall seedling growth was stronger in the PGPR treated seeds than that in the control, but positive effect on seedling growth was not conspicuous. At effective concentration of 100 mg/L, the average seedling length of the PGPR treatment in As, Cd, Cu, and Ni medium, respectively, was 1.13, 0.14, 0.40, and 0.06 cm longer than that in the control. However, the increase of seedling growth was statistically insignificant (p < 0.05). These results suggest that inoculation of the isolated-PGPR exerts positive effects on seed germination by reducing heavy metal toxicity and can be an effective tool for application of phytoremediation on heavy metal contaminated soils.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.576-586
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antifungal activity, plant-growth-promoting activity, and mineral solubilization ability of 10 species of phytopathogenic fungi to select a Bacillus sp. from rhizosphere soils and roots that can be used as a microbial agent. The antifungal activity for phytopathogenic fungi varied based on the Bacillus sp. Among the selected strains, DDP4, DDP16, DDP148, SN56, and SN95 exhibited antifungal activity for nine or more species of phytopathogenic fungi. Regarding nitrogen-fixation ability, all Bacillus sp. showed similar levels of activity, and siderophore production ability was relatively high in ANG42 and DDP427. The indole-3-acetic acid production abilities were in the range of 1.83-67.91 ㎍/ml, with variations in activity based on the Bacillus sp. One strain with a high activity was selected from each species, and their mineral solubilization abilities were examined. Most Bacillus sp. could solubilize phosphoric acid and calcium carbonate, and DDP148 and SN56 could solubilize silicon and zinc, respectively. These results suggested that Bacillus sp. can be considered potential multi-purpose microbial agents for plant growth promotion and disease prevention.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2014

Microbiota in the niches of the rhizosphere zones can affect plant growth and responses to environmental stress conditions via mutualistic interactions with host plants. Specifically, some beneficial bacteria, collectively referred to as Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPRs), increase plant biomass and innate immunity potential. Here, we report that Enterobacter sp. EJ01, a bacterium isolated from sea china pink (Dianthus japonicus thunb) in reclaimed land of Gyehwa-do in Korea, improved the vegetative growth and alleviated salt stress in tomato and Arabidopsis. EJ01 was capable of producing 1-aminocy-clopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase and also exhibited indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production. The isolate EJ01 conferred increases in fresh weight, dry weight, and plant height of tomato and Arabidopsis under both normal and high salinity conditions. At the molecular level, short-term treatment with EJ01 increased the expression of salt stress responsive genes such as DREB2b, RD29A, RD29B, and RAB18 in Arabidopsis. The expression of proline biosynthetic genes (i.e. P5CS1 and P5CS2) and of genes related to priming processes (i.e. MPK3 and MPK6) were also up-regulated. In addition, reactive oxygen species scavenging activities were enhanced in tomatoes treated with EJ01 in stressed conditions. GFP-tagged EJ01 displayed colonization in the rhizosphere and endosphere in the roots of Arabidopsis. In conclusion, the newly isolated Enterobacter sp. EJ01 is a likely PGPR and alleviates salt stress in host plants through multiple mechanisms, including the rapid up-regulation of conserved plant salt stress responsive signaling pathways.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.582-589
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• 2003

The effect of useful rhizobacterium added in bed soil on the early growth promotion of red pepper plug seedlings was investigated. Total 540 colonies of rhizobacteria from 385 samples of eggplant family roots were isolated. Among these, 5 isolates were selected for antifungal activity against pathogenic fungi such as Alternaria solani, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporium, Phytophthora capsici, and Sclerotia sclerotiorum. Of all the isolates, MJ-3 having the most pronounced growth-promoting ability for red pepper was finally selected and identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens through characterization of biochemical and bacteriological aspects and 16S rDNA sequence. The plant height, stem diameter, root length and fresh weight of red pepper plants which were grown with inoculation of B. amyloliquefaciens MJ-3 were higher than those without inoculation. Especially the root weight of the inoculated red pepper plant increased by 44.3%, the content of endogenous plant hormone (CA$_1$) being 0.556 ng/g (dry weight).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.708-716
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to identify strawberry wilt pathogens and evaluate the efficacy of Chlorella fusca CHK0059 for improving plant growth and suppressing Fusarium wilt. We identified 10 isolates of wilt pathogens of non-pesticide Seolhyang strawberry plant, including Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae, using morphological and molecular analysis. On the 15^th day after 0.4% CHK0059 treatment, the plant height of the untreated control strawberry plants was significantly greater than that of the CHK0059-treated strawberry plants. After 85 days, both treatments showed a similar tendency regarding the height of the strawberry plants. However, the thickness of strawberry leaves treated with the CHK0059 was found to be 1 mm thicker than that of the untreated control. The flowering percentage of the CHK0059 plants was also 40.2% higher on average than that of the untreated control. The chlorophyll content of strawberry leaves treated with the CHK0059 was also, on average, 6.63% higher than that of the untreated control. After 90 days of the CHK0059 treatment, the incidence of Fusarium wilt in the CHK0059-treated plants had reduced by 9.8% on average compared to the untreated control. The population density of F. oxysporum f. sp. fragariae was also reduced by approximately 86.8% in the CHK0059-treated plants by comparison to the untreated control at 70 days after treatment. The results indicate that the microalga C. fusca CHK0059 is an efficient biological agent for improving strawberry plant growth and suppressing Fusarium wilt disease in organic strawberries.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.251-256
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• 2017

Some rhizobacteria were isolated, that have copper resistance and can confer copper resistance to plants allowing growth under copper stress. Isolated strains Pseudomonas veronii MS1 and P. migulae MS2 produced 0.13 and 0.26 mmol/ml of siderophore, that is a metal-chelating agent, and also showed 64.6 and 77.9% of biosorption ability for Cu in 20 mg/L Cu solution, respectively. Copper can catalyze a formation of harmful free radicals, which may cause oxidative stress in organisms. Removal activity of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical and antioxidant capacity of strains MS1 and MS2 increased up to 82.6 and 78.1%, respectively compared to those of control at 24 h of incubation. They exhibited 7.10 and $6.42{\mu}mol$ ${\alpha}$-ketobutyrate mg/h of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase activity, respectively, which reduced levels of stress hormone, ethylene in plants, and also produced indole-3-acetic acid and salicyclic acid that can help plant growth under abiotic stress. All these results indicated that these copper-resistant rhizobacteria could confer copper resistance and growth promotion to plants.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.209-220
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• 2013

Root colonization by Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 induces systemic drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Microarray analysis was performed using the 22,800-gene Affymetrix GeneChips to identify differentially-expressed genes from plants colonized with or without P. chlororaphis O6 under drought stressed conditions or normal growth conditions. Root colonization in plants grown under regular irrigation condition increased transcript accumulation from genes associated with defense, response to reactive oxygen species, and auxin- and jasmonic acid-responsive genes, but decreased transcription factors associated with ethylene and abscisic acid signaling. The cluster of genes involved in plant disease resistance were up-regulated, but the set of drought signaling response genes were down-regulated in the P. chlororaphis O6-colonized under drought stress plants compared to those of the drought stressed plants without bacterial treatment. Transcripts of the jasmonic acid-marker genes, VSP1 and pdf-1.2, the salicylic acid regulated gene, PR-1, and the ethylene-response gene, HEL, also were up-regulated in plants colonized by P. chlororaphis O6, but differed in their responsiveness to drought stress. These data show how gene expression in plants lacking adequate water can be remarkably influenced by microbial colonization leading to plant protection, and the activation of the plant defense signal pathway induced by root colonization of P. chlororaphis O6 might be a key element for induced systemic tolerance by microbes.