Genetic diversity of Endophytic bacteria isolated from extreme environments

Abstract

Plants harbour a wide diversity of microorganisms which play a crucial role in their growth, survival, and establishment by conferring enhanced resistance to abiotic stress allowing plants to grow in extreme conditions. The aim of our study was to identify endophytic bacteria associated with Deschampcia antarctica and estimate their plant growth-promoting potential. Twelve endophytic bacterial cultures were isolated from D. antarctica sampled during the 25th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition (January-April 2020) and identified by the 16S rRNA molecular approach and followed phylogenetic analysis using GenBank database and Blast software. The most abundant genus among isolated endophytic bacteria was Pseudomonas (five isolates 10.1, 23.1, 24.4, 26.2, 26.4). Based on bootstrap analysis it was shown that 10.1 isolate was 81% related to P. salomonii. According to General Time Reversible model, 10.1 and 26.2 isolates were organized to one group, 23.1 to another, while 26.4 and 24.4 were the most evolutionary distanced. Therest of the isolates were represented by Psychrobacter, Agreia, Hafnia, Pseuarthrobacter, Bacillus, Brachybacterium, and Kocuria species. That could be the evidence of rich genetic biodiversity of endophytic bacteria isolated from extreme environments.