Shimaila Ali
A&L Biologicals, Canada
Title: Functional interaction of plant and its microbiome: What are these bacteria doing?
Biography
Biography: Shimaila Ali
Abstract
Determination of functional genetics of corn microbial community can lead us to find the factors involved in higher corn productivity. Functions imparted to host plants by the microbial community include disease control by production of antibiotics, lytic enzymes, and siderophores and stimulation of host defenses. Many microorganisms can modulate plant hormonal levels by production of indoleacetic acid, ethylene, cytokinins, gibberellins, etc. We developed and standardized protocols for the quantitation of seven different functions in corn microbial community, which include nitrogen fixation (nif), phosphate solubilization (pqqC), antibiotic production (srffA and fenD mainly from Bacilus sp., phlD and phzF mainly from Pseudomonas sp.), and production of hydrogen cyanide (hcnAB). The functional genes were quantified in microbial community DNA extracted from roots, stem, and rhizospheric soil of corn grown in fields selected by aerial infrared photography and identified as having high or average productivity within the same fields. In almost all samples, the abundance of functional genes was directly related to high corn productivity. However, the richness in functional gene(s) in the microbial population associated with corn was not the only factor that correlated with productivity.