Development of a new biostimulant formula composed of novel Methylobacterium and crop nutrients

该项目通过开发一种植物生长促进剂，提供了提高作物产量的潜力，这种植物生长促进剂由有益细菌菌株产生的精心挑选的高价值生物化合物组成。我们的建议建立在我们对甲基杆菌的初步调查的有希望的结果的基础上，甲基杆菌产生独特的高水平的生长促进激素，称为细胞分裂素（CK）。它侧重于它们促进大豆生长和产量的能力，以及减轻干旱对有限供水条件下种植的四种豆类作物的负面影响的能力。我们现在正在扩大研究，以测试甲基杆菌产生其他类型的植物生长调节剂（GAs，阿坝，IAA，JA，SA）的能力，并进一步研究这些共生菌株分泌的化合物的植物生长促进特性。这是第一次，我们将使用非靶向定量质谱来表征不同甲基杆菌菌株之间的主要代谢差异，并将其与CK和其他生长调节剂的细菌生产相关联。具体来说，我们将比较细胞团和微生物上清液中小质量代谢物的组成，并确定可能对宿主植物产生有益影响的最丰富的代谢物。此外，我们将研究暴露于负面环境因素（即营养缺乏，诱导干旱，盐度或低温）的菌株代谢组的变化，以更好地了解甲基杆菌的作用模式。在下一步中，我们将测试添加由行业合作伙伴NutriAg Ltd.提供的矿物肥料后有价值的细菌化合物的稳定性。这是一种将应用于甲基杆菌无细胞上清液的大量和微量元素的专有组合物。该项目的最终目标是开发一种独特而稳定的细菌和矿物来源的植物生长促进化学品配方，这将是高效和经济的使用。总的来说，这项研究将有助于减少化肥的使用，增加加拿大可持续植物生产的规模，从而提高产量，更有效地利用土地资源，扩大市场。

This project offers the potential of greater crop yield through the development of a plant growth enhancer, composed of carefully selected, high-value biological compounds produced by the beneficial bacterial strains. Our proposal builds on the promising results of our preliminary investigation of Methylobacterium which produce uniquely high levels of growth promoting hormones known as the cytokinins (CKs). It focused on their ability to promote growth and yield in soybean and to alleviate negative effects of drought in four legumes cultivated under limited water supply. We are now expanding the study to test the ability of Methylobacteria to produce other types of plant growth regulators (GAs, ABA, IAA, JA, SA) and further investigate plant growth promoting properties of chemical compounds secreted by these symbiotic strains. For the first time, we will characterize principal metabolic differences among different Methylobacterium strains with the use of untargeted quantitative mass spectrometry and correlate them to bacterial production of CKs and other growth regulators. Specifically, we will compare the composition of small mass metabolites in cell pellets and in microbial supernatants and identify the most abundant metabolites that may have beneficial effects on host plants. Additionally, we will investigate changes in the metabolome of strains exposed to the negative environmental factors (i.e. nutrient deficiency, induced drought, salinity or low temperature) to obtain better insight into Methylobacterium modes of action. In the next step, we will test the stability of the valuable bacterial compounds upon addition of mineral fertilizer supplied by the Industry Partner, NutriAg Ltd. This is a proprietary composition of macro- and microelements which will be applied to the Methylobacterium cell-free supernatants. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a unique and stable formula of plant growth promoting chemicals of bacterial and mineral origin, that will be both highly effective and economical to use. Overall, this research will help to reduce use of chemical fertilizers and increase the scale of sustainable plant production in Canada, resulting in greater yields, more efficient land resource use, and market expansion.