Amelioration of high salinity stress damage by plant growth-promoting bacterial endophytes that contain ACC deaminase

•Two ACCD+ bacterial endophytes were tested on tomato plants under salt stress.•Seeds treated with wild-type endophytic bacteria showed higher growth than control.•Pretreated plants have greater numbers of flowers and buds than control plants.•P. migulae 8R6 performed better under high salt stress than P. fluorescens YsS6.

Plant growth and productivity is negatively affected by soil salinity. However, it is predicted that plant growth-promoting bacterial (PGPB) endophytes that contain 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase (E.C. 4.1.99.4) can facilitate plant growth and development in the presence of a number of different stresses. In present study, the ability of ACC deaminase containing PGPB endophytes Pseudomonas fluorescens YsS6, Pseudomonas migulae 8R6, and their ACC deaminase deficient mutants to promote tomato plant growth in the absence of salt and under two different levels of salt stress (165 mM and 185 mM) was assessed. It was evidence that wild-type bacterial endophytes (P. fluorescens YsS6 and P. migulae 8R6) promoted tomato plant growth significantly even in the absence of stress (salinity). Plants pretreated with wild-type ACC deaminase containing endophytic strains were healthier and grew to a much larger size under high salinity stress compared to plants pretreated with the ACC deaminase deficient mutants or no bacterial treatment (control). The plants pretreated with ACC deaminase containing bacterial endophytes exhibit higher fresh and dry biomass, higher chlorophyll contents, and a greater number of flowers and buds than the other treatments. Since the only difference between wild-type and mutant bacterial endophytes was ACC deaminase activity, it is concluded that this enzyme is directly responsible for the different behavior of tomato plants in response to salt stress. The use of PGPB endophytes with ACC deaminase activity has the potential to facilitate plant growth on land that is not normally suitable for the majority of crops due to their high salt contents.