Abstract Detail

Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions

Padda, Kiran Preet [1], Puri, Akshit [1], Chanway, Chris P [1].

Is the role of green fluorescent protein (gfp) more than a marker gene?

Nitrogen is a primary plant nutrient that is required in large quantities to achieve maximum crop yield. Paenibacillus Polymyxa bacteria are well known for their ability to fix nitrogen and promote plant growth. Paenibacillus polymyxa strain P2b-2R was isolated from internal stem tissue of a naturally regenerating pine seedling. It was found to fix high amounts of nitrogen from atmosphere when reintroduced into lodgepole pine seedlings. This bacterial strain was labeled with a marker gene, green fluorescent protein (GFP), to see its colonization sites inside plant species. But the effects of GFP tagging of this bacterial strain are not known. So, we wanted to see the effects of GFP labeled derivative of P2b-2R on agricultural crops such as corn and canola in ways similar to the wild type strain. For this we inoculated corn and canola seeds with GFP labeled P2b-2R and wild type P2b-2R and grew them for 40 days in an N-limited soil mix. Seedlings were harvested 20, 30 and 40 days after inoculation and evaluated for biological nitrogen fixation and growth promotion. Corn and canola seedlings inoculated with the GFP labeled P2b-2R derived 16% and 18% of N from atmosphere respectively. Whereas, corn and canola seedlings inoculated with wild type strain derived 12 and 15% of N from atmosphere respectively. Canola seedlings treated with P2b-2Rgfp were 40% taller and accumulated 70% more biomass than those treated with wild type P2b-2R, 40 days after inoculation. Similarly, corn seedlings inoculated with P2b-2Rgfp were 7% taller and accumulated 15% more biomass than wild type inoculated seedlings, 40 days after inoculation. We concluded that GFP modification of strain P2b-2R resulted in a significant enhancement of its growth promotion efficacy and nitrogen fixing ability on certain important agricultural crops, corn and canola. This shows that green fluorescent protein is not just a marker gene and might be involved in increasing the efficiency of a growth promoting bacteria.

1 - University of British Columbia, Forest and Conservation Sciences, Forest Sciences Centre 3041, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

Keywords:
Paenibacillus Polymyxa
Green flourescent protein (GFP)
P2b-2R
Agricultural Crops
Nitrogen fixation
Growth promotion.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Topics
Session: P
Location: Hall D/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PSB005
Abstract ID:67
Candidate for Awards:CSPB President's Award for Best Student Presentation,CSPB Travel Bursary