The Efficacy of Bacillus Subtilis in Promoting Growth of ABA-Deficient(CS156) and Wild-Type Arabidopsis Thaliana in Zinc-Contaminated Soil:
Anurith Kusunam
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.4018Keywords:
Bacterial Remediation, Arabidopsis Thaliana, Bacillus Subtilis, Abscisic acid (ABA), ABA2 mutant (CS156), Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), Heavy metal stressAbstract
This research project aims to investigate an exciting alternative to improve plant growth under heavy metal stress. Specifically, a gene involved in production of Abscisic Acid, AT1G52340, is utilized to determine if bacterial inoculation can increase growth with exposure to heavy metals. A plant naturally produces Abscisic Acid in response to heavy metals, which regulates stomatal closure + limits metal uptake. However, this natural response may be insufficient in dealing with heavy metals alone. Bacterial remediation is an exciting alternative to standard approaches, and it was reasoned that Bacillus Subtilis may help plants gain heightened ABA levels, based on previous research showcasing B. Subtilis ability to increase plants ABA levels, simultaneously decreasing heavy metal content in the soil. This experiment involved a wild-type Arabidopsis plant and a mutant strain lacking a functional AT1G52340 gene, thus producing less ABA. Both strains were either inoculated with bacteria or left uninoculated, creating four experimental groups. The Wild-type and Mutant-type plants were grown in soil pots with B. Subtilis mixed into the soil. It was hypothesized that the Wild type treated with B.Subtilis (WTB) will grow the best among the other three groups as it has a functional AT1G52340 gene in addition to high levels of Abscisic acid expression. The initial data for the growth rate supported this hypothesis; however, this relationship was not observed as the experiment continued. Overall, inoculation with B. Subtilis in Zinc-ridden soil aided in increasing the growth rate of the plant, potentially because of the increased ABA levels.
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