Guangyu Shi

The effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) on the phytoremediation efficiency of ryegrass on soil contaminated with nonylphenol (NP) and cadmium (Cd) was investigated by pot experiments. Pseudomonas aeruginosa application stimulated the adsorption of Cd by ryegrass and facilitated the biodegradation of NP in the soil. Exogenous P. aeruginosa inoculation increased the activities of urease, dehydrogenase, and polyphenol oxidase in the soil of the T4 treatment by 38.5%, 50.0%, and 56.5% compared to that of the T2 treatment, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between the activities of dehydrogenase and polyphenol oxidase and the NP removal rate (P < 0.001). The relative abundances of beneficial microorganisms (such as Sphingomonas, Lysobacter, Streptomyces, Chloroflexia, Deltaproteobacteria, and Alphaproteobacteria) were increased as a result of P. aeruginosa inoculation. These microorganisms play important roles in nutrient cycling, Cd adsorption, and NP degradation. Additionally, P. aeruginosa was not the dominate bacterial species at the end of the experiment. According to this study, P. aeruginosa application improved the phytoremediation efficiency of ryegrass on soil contaminated with NP and Cd, with a minimal risk of alien microbial invasion.

Tomato cultivation is seriously affected by infection from Botrytis cinerea. The safe and effective control of tomato gray mold remains elusive. Plant-related microbial communities regulate not only plant metabolism but also plant immune systems. In this study, we observed that Selenium application in soil combined with foliar spraying of methyl jasmonate could reduce Botrytis cinerea infection in tomato fruits and leaves and improve tomato fruit quality. The infection rate of leaves decreased from 42.19% to 25.00%, and the vitamin C content increased by 22.14%. The bacterial community structure of the tomato was studied by using amplicon sequencing technology. The leaf bacterial alpha diversity of tomatoes treated with Se plus methyl jasmonate was significantly higher than that of the control. Then we isolated five strains antagonistic to Botrytis cinerea in vitro from tomato leaves in the treatment of Se plus methyl jasmonate. The antagonistic strains were identified as Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus velezensis. Spraying mixed antagonistic strain suspension significantly inhibited the diameter of Botrytis cinerea with an inhibition rate of 40.99%. This study revealed the key role of plant-beneficial bacteria recruited by Se combined with methyl jasmonate in improving tomato plant disease resistance. These findings may benefit our understanding of the new regulation of microorganisms on Botrytis cinerea.

The principal objective of this study was to investigate the strengthened remediation effect and relevant mechanism of P. aeruginosa on ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) for soil contaminated by Cu-Pb-Cd compound heavy metals. The results showed that the complex heavy metals’ contamination had remarkable inhibiting effect on the growth of plants (P < 0.01), and the biomass of ryegrass’s stem and leaves declined by 28.2%, while that of roots decreased by 34.7% after 45 days. The inoculation of P. aeruginosa promoted the growth of ryegrass in polluted soil, in which the biomass recovered to the same level of that in normal plant; the activity of both catalase and urease in the soil also increased strikingly (by 29.3% and 75.7%, respectively); the ratio of residual heavy metals in the soil decreased, while the acid extractable heavy metals increased notably. Therefore, the absorption and accumulation of ryegrass to the heavy metals in soil were improved to some extent; the bioconcentration factor of Cu, Pb, and Cd in ryegrass increased by 35.9%, 55.6%, and 283.5%, respectively. The exterior microorganism allowed the accumulation of Cu, Pb, and Cd in shoots of ryegrass increasing remarkably, while in roots, only the accumulation of Pb increased by 16.3%, and that of both Cu and Cd decreased. Besides, in the P. aeruginosa-inoculated system, the transfer factor of Cu and Cd in plants increased strikingly, while that of Pb decreased.