Enhancing teak (Tectona grandis) seedling growth by rhizosphere microbes: a sustainable way to optimize agroforestry

Chaiya, L., Gavinlertvatana, P., Teaumroong, N., Pathom-aree, W., Chaiyasen, A., Sungthong, R. and Lumyong, S. (2021) Enhancing teak (Tectona grandis) seedling growth by rhizosphere microbes: a sustainable way to optimize agroforestry. Microorganisms, 9(9), 1990. (doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9091990) (PMID:34576884) (PMCID:PMC8465541)

Abstract

With its premium wood quality and resistance to pests, teak is a valuable tree species remarkably required for timber trading and agroforestry. The nursery stage of teak plantation needs critical care to warrant its long-term productivity. This study aimed to search for beneficial teak rhizosphere microbes and assess their teak-growth-promoting potentials during nursery stock preparation. Three teak rhizosphere/root-associated microbes, including two teak rhizobacteria (a nitrogen-fixing teak root endophyte-Agrobacterium sp. CGC-5 and a teak rhizosphere actinobacterium-Kitasatospora sp. TCM1-050) and an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Claroideoglomus sp. PBT03), were isolated and used in this study. Both teak rhizobacteria could produce in vitro phytohormones (auxins) and catalase. With the pot-scale assessments, applying these rhizosphere microbes in the form of consortia offered better teak-growth-promoting activities than the individual applications, supported by significantly increased teak seedling biomass. Moreover, teak-growth-promoting roles of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus were highly dependent upon the support by other teak rhizobacteria. Based on our findings, establishing the synergistic interactions between beneficial rhizosphere microbes and teak roots was a promising sustainable strategy to enhance teak growth and development at the nursery stage and reduce chemical inputs in agroforestry.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was funded by the Thailand Research Fund with a grant number: RRiPHD56I0023.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sungthong, Dr Rungroch

Creator Roles

Sungthong, R.: Conceptualization, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing – review and editing, Visualization, Supervision

• Authors: Chaiya, L., Gavinlertvatana, P., Teaumroong, N., Pathom-aree, W., Chaiyasen, A., Sungthong, R., and Lumyong, S.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Microorganisms
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2076-2607
• ISSN (Online): 2076-2607
• Published Online: 19 September 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Microorganisms 9(9): 1990
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License