Increased iron-stress resilience of maize through inoculation of siderophore-producing Arthrobacter globiformis from mine

Iron deficiency is common among graminaceous crops. Ecologically successful wild grasses from iron-limiting habitats are likely to harbour bacteria which secrete efficient high-affinity iron-chelating molecules (siderophores) to solubilize and mobilize iron. Such siderophore-producing rhizobacteria may increase the iron-stress resilience of graminaceous crops. Considering this, 51 rhizobacterial isolates of Dichanthium annulatum from iron-limiting abandoned mine (approximate to 84% biologically unavailable iron) were purified and tested for siderophore production; and efficacy of Arthrobacter globiformis inoculation to increase iron-stress resilience of maize and wheat was also evaluated. 16S rRNA sequence analyses demonstrated that siderophore-producing bacteria were taxonomically diverse (seven genera, nineteen species). Among these, Gram-positive Bacillus (eleven species) was prevalent (76.92%). A. globiformis, a commonly found rhizobacterium of graminaceous crops was investigated in detail. Its siderophore has high iron-chelation capacity (ICC: 13.0 +/- 2.4M) and effectively dissolutes diverse iron-complexes (FeCl3: 256.13 +/- 26.56M/ml; Fe2O3 red: 84.3 +/- 4.74M/ml; mine spoil: 123.84 +/- 4.38M/ml). Siderophore production (ICC) of A. globiformis BGDa404 also varied with supplementation of different iron complexes. In plant bioassay with iron-deficiency sensitive species maize, A. globiformis inoculation triggered stress-associated traits (peroxidase and proline) in roots, enhanced plant biomass, uptake of iron and phosphate, and protein and chlorophyll contents. However, in iron deficiency tolerant species wheat, growth improvement was marginal. The present study illustrates: (i) rhizosphere of D. annulatum colonizing abandoned mine as a hotspot of siderophore-producing bacteria; and (ii) potential of A. globiformis BGDa404 inoculation to increase iron-stress resilience in maize. A. globiformis BGDa404 has the potential to develop as bioinoculant to alleviate iron-stress in maize.