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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2000, p. 3393-3398, Vol. 66, No. 8
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Rhizosphere Soil Aggregation and Plant Growth Promotion of Sunflowers by an Exopolysaccharide-Producing Rhizobium sp. Strain Isolated from Sunflower Roots

Younes Alami, Wafa Achouak, Christine Marol, and Thierry Heulin*

CEA/Cadarache, DSV-DEVM, Laboratoire d'Ecologie Microbienne de la Rhizosphère (LEMiR), UMR 163 CNRS-CEA, 13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance Cedex, France

Received 3 March 2000/Accepted 7 June 2000

Root-adhering soil (RAS) forms the immediate environment where plants take up water and nutrients for their growth. We report the effect of an exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing rhizobacterium (strain YAS34) on the physical properties of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) RAS, associated with plant growth promotion, under both water stress and normal water supply conditions. Strain YAS34 was isolated as a major EPS-producing bacterium from the rhizoplane of sunflowers grown in a French dystric cambisol. Strain YAS34 was assigned to the Rhizobium genus by 16S ribosomal DNA gene sequencing. Inoculation of sunflower seeds and soil with strain YAS34 caused a significant increase in RAS per root dry mass (dm) (up to 100%) and a significant increase in soil macropore volume (12 to 60 µm in diameter). The effect of inoculation on sunflower shoot dm (up to +50%) and root dm (up to +70%) was significant under both normal and water stress conditions. Inoculation with strain YAS34 modified soil structure around the root system, counteracting the negative effect of water deficit on growth. Using [15N]nitrate, we showed that inoculation made the use of fertilizer more effective by increasing nitrogen uptake by sunflower plantlets.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: CEA/Cadarache, DSV-DEVM, Laboratoire d'Ecologie Microbienne de la Rhizosphère, UMR 163 CNRS-CEA, 13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance Cedex, France. Phone: 33 4 42 25 48 27. Fax: 33 4 42 25 66 48. E-mail: thierry.heulin{at}cea.fr.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2000, p. 3393-3398, Vol. 66, No. 8
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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