Culturable endophytic bacteria associated with medicinal plant Ferula songorica: molecular phylogeny, distribution and screening for industrially important traits.

Yong-Hong Liu,Jian Han,Li Li,Jian-Wei Guo,Nimaichand Salam,Osama Abdalla Mohamad,Wen-Jun Li,Yong-Guang Zhang

doi:10.1007/s13205-016-0522-7

Abstract

Xinjiang, a region of high salinity and drought, is a host to many arid and semi-arid plants. Many of these plants including Ferula spp. have indigenous pharmaceutical histories. As many of the medicinal properties of plants are in tandem with the associated microorganisms residing within the plant tissues, it is advisable to explore the endophytic potential of such plants. In the present study, diversity of culturable bacteria isolated from medicinal plants Ferula songorica collected from Hebukesaier, Xinjiang were analyzed. A total of 170 endophytic bacteria belonging to three phyla, 15 orders, 20 families and 27 genera were isolated and characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The phylum Actinobacteria constitutes a major portion of the endophytic microbes isolated from the plant Ferula songorica (107 isolates). Overall endophytic species richness of the sample was 58 taxa while the sample has statistical values of 4.02, 0.97, 0.65 and 16.55 with Shannon’s, Simpson, Species evenness and Margalef, respectively. Root tissues were found to be more suitable host for endophytes as compared to leaf and stem tissues. Among these endophytic strains, 88 % can grow on nitrogen-free media, 19 % solubilize phosphate, while 26 and 40 % are positive for production of protease and cellulase, respectively. The results confirm that the medicinal plant Ferula songorica represents an extremely rich reservoir for the isolation of diverged bacteria with potential for growth promoting factors and biologically active compounds including enzymes.

Highlights

Ferula of the family Umbelliferae is a genus of about 180 species of flowering plants and are native to Mediterranean, central Asia and its adjacent areas (Pimenov and Leonov 2004)
An extensive characterization of diverse population of endophytic bacteria associated with medicinal plants can provide a greater insight into the plant-endophyte interactions, bioactivity and ecological role (Bloemberg and Lugtenberg 2001)
As many members of the genus Brevundimonas were reported from soil (Yoon et al 2006; Kang et al 2009; Wang et al 2012), the predominant isolation of Brevundimonas during the present study may be associated with the theory that most endophytic bacteria come from the surrounding rhizosphere (Long et al 2010)

Summary

Introduction

Ferula of the family Umbelliferae is a genus of about 180 species of flowering plants and are native to Mediterranean, central Asia and its adjacent areas (Pimenov and Leonov 2004). The variety Ferula songorica are distributed in several places of Xinjiang including Hebukesaier, Emin county, Toli county, Yumin county and Tahcheng. They are being utilized for treatments of digestive disorders, rheumatism, headache, dizziness, toothache, etc. A typical arid environment, is located in the border areas of northwest China and falls in the center of the Eurasian region. Endophytes adapting this special environment are likely to produce special metabolites. The present study involved the isolation of endophytes associated with medicinal plant Ferula songorica, analyzed the species richness and distribution pattern among the different tissues of the plant. The present study, in a small way, will help in conserving the Ferula plant from mass-scale excavation by exploiting the associated endophytes instead of the plant itself

Materials and methods

Results

Discussion

Compliance with ethical standards