Isolation and characterization ofPseudomonas chlororaphisstrain ST9 and its potential as a bioinoculant for agriculture

The development of biotechnologies based on beneficial microorganisms for improving soil fertility and crop yields could help addressing many current agriculture challenges, such as food security, climate change, pests control, soil depletion while decreasing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Plant Growth Promoting (PGP) microbes can be used as probiotics in order to increase plant tolerance/resistance to abiotic/biotic stresses and in this context strains belonging to the Pseudomonas chlororaphis group have shown to have potential as PGP candidates. In this work a new P. chlororaphis isolate is reported and tested for (i) in vitro PGP features, (ii) whole genome sequence analysis, and (iii) its effects on root microbiome, plant growth and on the expression of different plant genes in greenhouse experiments. The potential use of this P. chlororaphis strain as a plant probiotic is discussed.