ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1676456
This article is part of the Research TopicMicrobiome-Driven Strategies for Alleviation of Biotic and Abiotic Stresses in AgricultureView all articles
Endophytic bacteria Priestia megaterium 170T-4 improves soybean salt tolerance through regulation of ion homeostasis and phytohormone signaling pathways
Provisionally accepted
Shutian Hua1,2
Ruiyao Liu1Zhe Li1Han Zheng1,2
Yanfen Zheng1,3
Youqiang Wang1
Chengsheng Zhang1,3
Ziyan Wang1*
Mingguo Jiang2*- 1Tobacco Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, China
- 2Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning, China
- 3National Center of Technology Innovation for Comprehensive Utilization of Saline-Alkali Land, Dongying, China
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Salt stress in coastal saline-alkali soils impairs plant survival and growth. Plant growth-promoting rhizosphere bacteria (PGPR) and endophytic bacteria can enhance salinity tolerance via stable host associations. This study used culture-based and transcriptomic methods to investigate culturable endophytic bacteria in soybean and their salt-tolerance mechanisms. A total of 154 strains were isolated from the roots of 10 soybean varieties cultivated in coastal saline-alkali soil, spanning 4 phyla, 35 genera, and 76 species. Microbacterium phyllosphaerae and Priestia megaterium were identified as dominant species, from which two representative strains were selected to assess their growth-promoting effects under salt stress. Strain 170T-4 was identified as P. megaterium via multilocus sequence analysis and showed high salt tolerance, growing in up to 6% NaCl. Pot experiments showed that strain 170T-4 significantly improved plant height, root elongation, Na⁺/K⁺ homeostasis, proline, and chlorophyll content. Transcriptome profiling and RT-qPCR revealed that strain 170T-4 regulates K⁺ transport-related genes (GORK and SKOR), ethylene signaling related genes (PTI5, EIN3, and ERF1), and the allene oxide cyclase gene (AOC). Overall, strain 170T-4 improved soybean growth under salt stress by modulating ion transport, osmotic responses, and hormone signaling, showing strong potential as a microbial inoculant for saline-alkali soils.
Keywords: salt stress, Soybean, endophytic bacteria, Priestia megaterium 170T-4, Plant growth- promoting rhizobacteria
Received: 30 Jul 2025; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hua, Liu, Li, Zheng, Zheng, Wang, Zhang, Wang and Jiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ziyan Wang, wangziyan@caas.cn
Mingguo Jiang, mzxyjiang@163.com
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