Plant protection by the recombinant, root-colonizing Pseudomonas fluorescens F113rifPCB strain expressing arsenic resistance: improving rhizoremediation

R.P. Ryan, D. Ryan, D.N. Dowling

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    24 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Aims: The present study was designed to evaluate the stable insertion and
    expression of an arsenic resistance operon in the rhizosphere competent, PCB
    degrading strain Pseudomonas fluorescens F113rifPCB (F113rifPCB) and to
    investigate its ability to protect plants from arsenic.
    Methods and Results: Introduction of the clone pUM3 (arsRDABC) into
    F113rifPCB was carried out by triparental conjugation. The resultant arsenic
    resistant strain was screened through a number of phenotypic tests including
    ability to grow on biphenyl, its rhizosphere competence and plant protection
    potential.
    Conclusions: Insertion and expression of arsenic resistant operon arsRDABC
    (from plasmid R773) into F113rifPCB strain has allowed this strain to grow,
    colonize the root and degrade biphenyl (100 mmol l-1) in the presence of
    sodium arsenate concentrations of up to 11.5 mmol l-1. The strain retains its
    ability to colonize the rhizosphere of plants and appears to provide seed germination protection to arsenic which is not seen by the wild type.
    Significance and Impact of the Study: Owing to the significantly improved
    growth characteristics of both this rhizobacterium and plant species, the use of
    F113rifPCB-ars endowed with arsenic resistance capabilities may be a promising
    strategy to remediate mixed organic metal-contaminated sites. These types
    of strain could be used in the inoculation of metal accumulation plants for
    phytoremediation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)668-674
    Number of pages7
    JournalLetters in Applied Microbiology
    Volume45
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2007

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