Abstract
Endophytes may play important roles in agriculture. Spontaneous or induced mutant strains may increase their biotechnological properties. Seventeen Colletotrichum endophytic fungi were investigated for their plant growth-promoting characteristics (in vitro phosphate solubilization, IAA, and siderophore production). The five best strains were inoculated into bean seeds, and the most prominent isolate was selected to obtain auxotrophic mutants by Potassium Bromate Resistance System (PBRS). The plant growth-promoting ability of the mutant was also investigated. Further, 41.17% of the evaluated endophytes presented promising results for in vitro assays (C. karstii SL10, C. karstii SL28, C. karstii SL57, C. karstii SL59, C. karstii SL12, C. karstii SL40, and C. karstii SL24). The endophyte C. karstii SL57 was statistically conspicuous for plant height and root length when compared to those in control plants. Bromate-resistant mutant C. karstii SL57 increased in vitro phosphate solubilization (23%) and chlorophyll levels (Chlb 0.607 mg g-1 and Chlt 0.973 mg g-1) of bean plants when compared to the wild-type strain (Chlb 0.551 mg g-1 and Chlt 0.881 mg g-1). This is the first time an auxotrophic mutant fungus has been obtained by PBRS with a biotechnological application for the agricultural field
Highlights
In 2017, the global bean production was around 24 million tons planted in one million hectares, with approximately 109 million tons of nitrogen and 45 million tons of phosphate fertilizers (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], 2020)
The genus Colletotrichum has been commonly described as an agricultural important phytopathogen (Cannon et al, 2012), these fungi have had their endophyte role successfully reported in different plant species (Bongiorno et al, 2016; Ribeiro et al, 2018; Santos et al, 2019; Golias et al, 2020; Oliveira et al, 2020)
40 putative mutants were screened for five Nsources (Cys, Met, Lys, UA, and Cyst), only one mutant was confirmed for uric acid (C. karstii SL57mut BR-UA)
Summary
In 2017, the global bean production was around 24 million tons planted in one million hectares, with approximately 109 million tons of nitrogen and 45 million tons of phosphate fertilizers (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], 2020). Microorganisms that asymptomatically inhabit the interior of plant tissues, called endophytes (Wenzel, Garcia, Filho, Prioli, & Pamphile, 2010; Garcia et al, 2012), may be an excellent replacement alternative for the application of chemical fertilizers without any adverse environmental effects. They are capable of solubilizing inorganic salts, produce phytohormones and antagonize phytopathogens (Polonio et al, 2015; Bongiorno et al, 2016; Ribeiro et al, 2018; Oliveira et al, 2020). The genus has already been considered one of the eight pathogens of great agricultural importance (Cannon, Damm, Johnston, & Weir, 2012), the latter have proved to be able to associate endophytically with different hosts and perform activities of biotechnological importance, such as enzyme production (Santos et al, 2019), phosphate solubilization (Hiruma et al, 2016) and the production of plant hormones (Robinson, Riov, & Sharon, 1998)
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