Metabolites change in Jatropha plants due to seed treatment with rhizobacteria and Rhizoctonia bataticola

Abstract

An experiment on the metabolite [salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), hydrocyanic acid (HCN) and chitinase activity] changes owing to seed treatn1ent with pathogen, plant growth pron1oting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) - (P. maltophilia, P. fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis) alone and in combination was conducted at Chaudhary Charan Singh, Haryana Agricultural University, Regional Research Station, Bawal. Jatropha curcas plants raised from root rot pathogen (Rhizoctonia bataticola) treated seeds showed an initial increase in SA and hydrocyanic acid HCN content and an opposite trend was observed for JA level and chitinase activity. Though, PGPRs inoculation resulted in higher increase in SA level, JA level and chitinase activity in both the cases alone as well as in integration with pathogen, however, maximun1 increase in JA content was explicited in plants raised after seed treatment with P. fluorescens, the most effective rhizobacteria amongst PGPRs studied. Highest increase in HCN content (45 micrograms g-1) over control (24 micrograms g-1) was noticed for P. fluorescens followed by co-seed inoculation with P. fluorescens + pathogen (43 micrograms g-1) at 10 DPL. The co-seed inoculation elicited 68 units at 10 DPI, whereas the pathogen challenged plants showed lower chitinase activity with 42 units. All the metabolites declined slightly or sharply with age of the plant irrespective of inoculations.