Root Bacteria
Oil sands
mining in northern Alberta impacts a large footprint but, in response to
environmental regulations, the industry is committed to reclaiming all disturbed land to an ecologically healthy state. However, several factors that include low soil nutrient levels and reduced
microbial activity may limit those newly reconstructed landscapes. Bacteria benefit from the
plant nutrients the roots provide, but plants can also benefit from their rhizobacteria. Bacteria known as
Rhizobacteria Plant Growth-Promoting (PGPR) are diverse and represent a wide range of phyla. They also perform a wide variety of functions which promote growth. Cytokinins is another class of PGPR-producing phytohormones. Application of cytokinin in plants results in increased
cell division and initiation of shooting (Jha and Saraf, 2015) by influencing their physiological and developmental mechanisms. Some other processes in plants, such as nutritional signaling, leaf expansion, seed germination promotion and delay in senescence, are also heavily influenced by cytokinins. Microbes within a
rhizosphere of a
plant provide plants with more than just beneficial nutrients. Some bacteria serve as a first line defense against pathogenic bacteria , fungi and other parasites in a plant.
Species of Pseudomonas have been involved as protective bacteria that suppress root
fungal disease. Streptomyces diastatochromogenes generates an antibiotic that inhibits the growth of disease-causing bacteria from potato scab. Bacillus thuringiensis helps protect plants against common
plant pest, gnats of the fungus. When eaten by
larvae of the gnat fungus, B. Thuringiensis spores germinate in the insect gut and begin to produce crystal-forming insecticidal proteins. Attachment of Azospirillum brasilense to the roots of cereals can also be divided into two different stages. Bacterial surface
proteins, capsular polysaccharide, and flagella appear to govern the first binding step while the second step involves extracellular polysaccharide. Outer cell surface proteins and pili are involved in
plant roots adherence of the
species Pseudomonas.
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