Changes in Structural and Functional Responses of Bacterial Communities under Different Levels of Long-Term Compost Application in Paddy Soils.

Soils amended for long-term with high levels of compost demonstrated greater abundance of bacterial members of the phylum Bacteroidetes whereas a decreasing trend in the relative abundance of phylum Acidobacteria was noted with increasing levels of compost. Metabolic profiles predicted by PICRUSt demonstrated differences in functional responses of the bacterial community according to the treatments. Soils amended with lower compost levels were characterized by abundance of genes encoding enzymes contributing to membrane transport and cell growth whereas genes encoding enzymes related to protein folding and transcription were enriched in soils amended with high levels of compost.

Assessment of Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20 aggregates for salt tolerance and plant growth promoting characteristics for bio-inoculant development.

Salinity is one of the major factors contributing to the loss of crop productivity and thereby impacting livelihood of people in more than 100 countries of the world and the area of land affected by salinity is increasing day by day. This will worsen due to various factors such as drought that might result in high soil salinity. Use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria is one of the promising eco-friendly strategies for salinity stress management as part of sustainable agricultural practices.

Erratum to: Isolation, Characterization, and Use for Plant Growth Promotion Under Salt Stress, of ACC Deaminase-Producing Halotolerant Bacteria Derived from Coastal Soil.

This erratum is being published to correct the error in the name of the strain in the paper by Siddikee et al. The name of the strain B. iodinum should be corrected as B.

Isolation, characterization, and use for plant growth promotion under salt stress, of ACC deaminase-producing halotolerant bacteria derived from coastal soil.

In total, 140 halotolerant bacterial strains were isolated from both the soil of barren fields and the rhizosphere of six naturally growing halophytic plants in the vicinity of the Yellow Sea, near the city of Incheon in the Republic of Korea. All of these strains were characterized for multiple plant growth promoting traits, such as the production of indole acetic acid (IAA), nitrogen fixation, phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) solubilization, thiosulfate (S2O3) oxidation, the production of ammonia (NH3), and the production of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes such as protease, chitinase, pectinase, cellulase, and lipase under in vitro conditions. From the original 140 strains tested, on the basis of the latter tests for plant growth promotional activity, 36 were selected for further examination.