Influence of Salt Stress on Growth of Spermosphere Bacterial Communities in Different Peanut ( L.) Cultivars.

BACKGROUND

Exposure of seeds to high salinity can cause reduced germination and poor seedling establishment. Improving the salt tolerance of peanut ( L.) seeds during germination is an important breeding goal of the peanut industry. Bacterial communities in the spermosphere soils may be of special importance to seed germination under salt stress, whereas extant results in oilseed crop peanut are scarce.

METHODS

Here, bacterial communities colonizing peanut seeds with salt stress were characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

RESULTS

Peanut spermosphere was composed of four dominant genera: , , , and . Comparisons of bacterial community structure revealed that the beneficial bacteria (), which can produce specific phosphatases to sequentially mineralize organic phosphorus into inorganic phosphorus, occurred in relatively higher abundance in salt-treated spermosphere soils. Further soil enzyme activity assays showed that phosphatase activity increased in salt-treated spermosphere soils, which may be associated with the shift of .

CONCLUSION

This study will form the foundation for future improvement of salt tolerance of peanuts at the seed germination stage via modification of the soil microbes.