SALINITY INFLUENCE ON THE GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF INDOLE ACETIC ACID BY ENDOPHYTIC Burkholderia spp. FROM SUGARCANE

The sugarcane is an important source of food and bioenergy. So, the study of its interaction with endophytic bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen (BNF) and produce indole acetic acid (IAA) has been widely explored. However, due to bacterial sensitivity, both the production of IAA as the BNF may suffer the impact of soil and climatic factors. The goal of this study was to evaluate the influence of the NaCl different concentrations on the bacterial growth, on the BNF and on the IAA production in vitro by endophytic bacterial strains of the genus Burkholderia isolated from sugarcane plants grown in the Pernambuco State. In this study, two endophytic bacterial strains of Burkholderia gladioli and B. heleia species were inoculated in TSA (with L-tryptophan) added of five NaCl concentrations: 0.1, 1, 10, 25 and 50 g.L-1 and incubated under agitation. Bacterial growth and IAA production were assessed using a spectrophotometer for 48 hours. The nitrogen fixation test was carried out by the inoculation of the bacteria in semi-solid LGP-I added of five NaCl concentrations: 0.1, 1, 10, 25 and 50 g.L-1 and incubated at 28 degrees C during 10 days. It was observed that high concentrations of NaCl influenced negatively the bacterial growth and indole acetic acid production in vitro by B. glaidoli and B. heleia. Nevertheless, NaCl concentrations above 25 g.L-1 inhibited the ability to fix nitrogen in both strains.