Construction of Efficient Microbial Consortia and Their Effects on Potato Growth

doi:10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2025-1426

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective This study aims to construct plant growth-promoting microbial consortia and systematically evaluate their efficacy in enhancing potato growth and their application potential under field conditions. Method Two efficient Ralstonia pickettii strains (Rp.CX15 and Rp.CX18) were selected as core components and combined with partner strains exhibiting growth-promoting (Serratia marcescens P2A12, Sm.P2A12; Pseudomonas sp. CX02, Ps.sp.CX02), salt-tolerant (Pseudomonas sp. P3A2, Ps.sp.P3A2), and pathogen-antagonistic (Pseudomonas chlororaphis P1E11, Pc.P1E11) traits. Strain compatibility was evaluated using metabolite-cell co-culture assays and plate confrontation tests. Fourteen groups of microbial consortia were initially screened in pot experiments to compare the efficacy of multi-strain consortia against individual strains. The growth-promoting ability of the multi-strain consortia was tested in a natural soil potted system, and growth-promoting effects under two inoculation methods were also compared. Field trials were subsequently conducted to evaluate the effect of the multi-strain consortia on tuber yield per plant. Result Four groups of effective consortia were identified: B2 (Rp.CX18 + Ps.sp.CX02), B4 (Rp.CX18 + Pc.P1E11), B6 (Rp.CX18 + Ps.sp.P3A2), and C4 (Rp.CX18 + Ps.sp.CX02 + Ps.sp.P3A2). Under B2 treatment, stem diameter, aboveground dry weight, and belowground dry weight of potato seedlings increased by 50.37%, 97.92%, and 117.85%, respectively. Substrate inoculation combined with seedling-stage inoculation (SSI) was more effective than substrate inoculation alone (SI). In field trials, B2 and B6 increased tuber weight per plant of diploid potato by 12.71% and 12.77%, respectively. Conclusion The microbial consortia B2 and B6, constructed with Rp.CX18 as the core strain, significantly enhanced potato seedling biomass and increased tuber weight per plant under field conditions. These findings provide a reference for the application of microbial consortia in potato and other crops.

Key words: potato, Ralstonia pickettii, growth-promoting microbial consortia, functional complementarity, rhizosphere microorganisms

YANG Tao, ZENG Fan-cheng, ZENG Yu-xiao, TAO Rui-yan, XUE Zhi-hong, TAO Qian, ZHONG Yang, JIANG Fan, XIONG Xing-yao, CHENG Xu. Construction of Efficient Microbial Consortia and Their Effects on Potato Growth[J]. Biotechnology Bulletin, 2026, 42(5): 89-100.

Figures/Tables 7

Table 1 Composition information of microbial consortia

菌群编号 Consortium ID	核心菌株 Core strains	其他功能菌株 Additional functional strains	菌株总数 Total number of strains
B1	Rp.CX15	Ps.sp.CX02	2
B3	Rp.CX15	Pc.P1E11	2
B5	Rp.CX15	Ps.sp.P3A2	2
C1	Rp.CX15	Ps.sp.CX02 + Pc.P1E11	3
C3	Rp.CX15	Ps.sp.CX02 + Ps.sp.P3A2	3
C5	Rp.CX15	Pc.P1E11 + Ps.sp.P3A2	3
D1	Rp.CX15	Ps.sp.CX02 + Pc.P1E11 + Ps.sp.P3A2	4
B2	Rp.CX18	Ps.sp.CX02	2
B4	Rp.CX18	Pc.P1E11	2
B6	Rp.CX18	Ps.sp.P3A2	2
C2	Rp.CX18	Ps.sp.CX02 + Pc.P1E11	3
C4	Rp.CX18	Ps.sp.CX02 + Ps.sp.P3A2	3
C6	Rp.CX18	Pc.P1E11 + Ps.sp.P3A2	3
D2	Rp.CX18	Ps.sp.CX02 + Pc.P1E11 + Ps.sp.P3A2	4

Fig. 1 Colony morphology, growth-promoting effects, and validation of the disease-suppressive and salt-tolerant potential of the tested strainsA: Colony morphologies of individual strains on 1/2 TSA medium and phenotypes of potato seedlings at three weeks post-inoculation. B: Results of the dual-culture assay between strain Pc.P1E11 and the pathogen (AP; PC48). C: Phenotypic validation of the effect of strain Ps.sp.P3A2 on potato seedling growth under 200 mmol/L NaCl stress

Fig. 2 Evaluation of interactions among different strains and verification of the growth-promoting effects of strain combinations on diploid potatoA: Results of pairwise confrontation assays of strains on 1/2 TSA medium. B: Growth performance of each strain under supernatant treatment, where circles indicate the ratio (OD₆₀₀_strain + supernatant/OD₆₀₀_strain). C-F: Effects of different treatments on the aboveground fresh weight, underground fresh weight, total root length, and total root area of potato seedlings (n=6). Error bars in box plots indicate standard deviation. ns denotes no significant difference (independent-sample t-test, *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001), the same below

Fig. 3 Effects of different strain combinations on growth indicators of potato seedlingsA-D: Aboveground dry weight, underground dry weight, stem diameter, and total plant dry weight, respectively. Error bars in the bar charts indicate the standard deviation (n=4). The legend indicates the presence of strains in each combination (solid dots indicate presence)

Fig. 4 Evaluation of growth-promoting effects of microbial consortia under natural soil conditionsA: Plant growth phenotypes. B-G: Relative chlorophyll content, stem diameter, plant height, aboveground dry weight, underground dry weight, and total plant dry weight (n=4). Differences among different treatment groups were tested using one-way analysis of variance. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (P<0.05)

Fig. 5 Effects of different inoculation methods on the growth-promoting efficacy of microbial consortia on potato seedlingsA: Relative chlorophyll content. B: Plant height. C: Aboveground fresh weight. D: Underground fresh weight. E: Aboveground dry weight. F: Underground dry weight. G: Total biomass. H: Phenotypic performance of seedlings under different treatments. SI: Substrate inoculation treatment. SSI: Substrate inoculation combined with seedling inoculation treatment. Different colors in the figure are used to distinguish the four microbial consortia treatment groups (B2, B4, B6, and C4) (n=8)

Fig. 6 Effect of microbial consortia on tuber weight per plant of potato under field conditionsA: Tuber weight per plant of diploid potato (YS3 line). B: Tuber weight per plant of tetraploid potato (Favorita)

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