title: Isolation and characterization of a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium, Serratia sp. SY5.
abstract: The role of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in the phytoremediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soils is important in overcoming its limitations for field application. A plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium, Serratia sp. SY5, was isolated from the rhizoplane of barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) grown in petroleum and heavy-metal-contaminated soil. This isolate has shown capacities for indole acetic acid production and siderophores synthesis. Compared with a non-inoculated control, the radicular root growth of Zea mays seedlings inoculated with SY5 can be increased by 27- or 15.4-fold in the presence of 15 mg-Cd/l or 15 mg-Cu/l, respectively. The results from hydroponic cultures showed that inoculation of Serratia sp. SY5 had a favorable influence on the initial shoot growth and biomass of Zea mays under noncontaminated conditions. However, under Cd-contaminated conditions, the inoculation of SY5 significantly increased the root biomass of Zea mays. These results indicate that Serratia sp. SY5 can serve as a promising microbial inoculant for increased plant growth in heavy-metal-contaminated soils to improve the phytoremediation efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750, Korea.
authors.forename: So-Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: Kyung-Suk
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D002104:Cadmium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D031747:Echinochloa / Q000382:microbiology; D018527:Hydroponics; D007210:Indoleacetic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology; D012705:Serratia / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D017262:Siderophores / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry; D003313:Zea mays / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D007210:Indoleacetic Acids; D017262:Siderophores; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D002104:Cadmium; C030737:indoleacetic acid