Himalayan bacterial endophytes enhance microalgal cell numbers and chlorophyll content in synthetic co-culture

• Published in: Journal of applied phycology Vol. 34; no. 5; pp. 2383 - 2400
• Main Authors: Sonowal, Shashanka, Palani, Nagendra Prasad, Ahmed, Refad, Debbarma, Johni, Chikkaputtaiah, Channakeshavaiah, Basar, Egam, Velmurugan, Natarajan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-10-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Algae; Aquatic microorganisms; Aquatic plants; Bacteria; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bioprocessing; Biotechnology; Cell culture; Chlorophyll; Chlorophylls; Ecology; Endangered plants; Endophytes; Fatty acids; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Genes; Genomes; Herbal medicine; Life Sciences; Medicinal plants; Metabolites; Microalgae; Mountains; Photosynthesis; Phytoplankton; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Microalgae; Himalayan bacterial endophytes; Photosynthesis; Co-culture system; Genomics
• ISSN: 0921-8971; 1573-5176
• DOI: 10.1007/s10811-022-02798-9

Endophytic bacteria associated with medicinal plants from Himalayan mountains possess great biotechnological potential. However, the influence of these Himalayan bacterial endophytes (HBE) on microalgal-promotion and metabolite production is still largely unknown. In this study, the interactions between two endophytic bacterial isolates of an endangered Himalayan medicinal plant and long-chain fatty acids accumulating green alga
Micractinium
sp. GA001 are characterized in synthetic co-culture systems. The endophytes
Staphylococcus pasteuri
PPE11 and
Yersinia enterocolitica
PPE118 significantly enhance microalgal cell numbers with 56% and 49% increase in total chlorophyll content, respectively. Co-culturing microalgae with these endophytes demonstrated distinct responses toward photosynthesis at different temperatures. Endophytes were metabolically active for an extended time (more than 28 days) in co-culturing. The findings were further complemented with genomics studies of endophytes which were subjected to multiple sequencing approaches to assemble and annotate their genomes, resulting in key genes involved in PGP activities, metabolites production and transportation being identified. This study expands the benefits and bioprocessing potential of endophytes of Himalayan medicinal plants.