Bioengineering of Dioscorea nipponica with rhizospheric Proteus spp. for enhanced tuber size and diosgenin content

Rhizobacterial production of plant hormones, ACC deaminase, fixation of nitrogen, solubilization of phosphate and antimicrobial metabolites play very important role in the health and growth of plants. Hence exploration of plant probiotic prospectives of promising rhizobacterial isolates from biodiversity rich areas can have enormous applications to engineer both the biomass and active ingredients of plants. In the present study, rhizospheric Proteus spp. R6 and R60 isolated from Pseudarthria viscida and Glycosmis arborea were analyzed for tuber and diosgenin enhancement effects in Dioscorea nipponica under field conditions for 1 year. Among the two Proteus spp. selected, both were positive for ACC deaminase, siderophore, nitrogen fixation, IAA and ammonia production. However, the isolate R6 was found to have additional phosphate solubilizing activity. Quantitative analysis of IAA by HPTLC showed its maximum production by Proteus sp. R60 (714.47 ± 8.7 µg/mL) followed by Proteus sp. R6 (588.06 ± 7.0 µg/mL). The tubers formed from the Proteus sp. R6 treated samples were identified to have significant enhancement in size, root number and diosgenin content when compared to control. Interestingly, HPLC analysis has confirmed twofold higher diosgenin content in Proteus sp. R6 treated samples than control during 1 year period of its field growth. The obtained results are of great importance as it involved the utilization of rhizospheric bacteria to improve tuber size which suggests its potential use in developing cost-effective, eco-friendly and multifunctional biofertilizer.