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Bioprospecting and Characterization of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria

Collaboration with Dr. Rufina Hernández  from CICESE

Participants: CICESE- Edgardo Sepúlveda, Carmen Delgado, Edith Gonzalez, Jimena Rábago, Sheila Ramírez

The state of Baja California is home to a thriving agricultural industry that produces a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and wines. There are three agrarian regions: the Mexicali Valley, the Pacific Coast region comprised of San Quintín, San Vicente, Camalú and Maneadero, and finally the central zone, formed by the Guadalupe Valley and the Trinidad Valley. Baja California has an area of ​​71,450 square kilometers and shows great geographic diversity, ranging from mountains and valleys to deserts and forests. Tomato is the main vegetable that is produced, this crop is very susceptible to attack by pests and diseases, so about 35 different agrochemicals are used in its cultivation, mainly fungicides, insecticides, and foliar fertilizers. To reduce the use of these products, one strategy is to use Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), which can promote plant growth and decrease the damage caused by phytopathogens. However, the effectiveness of these microorganisms can be affected because they fail to adapt to the climatic conditions where they are applied. Our objective is to isolate and identify strains of plant growth-promoting bacteria adapted to the arid conditions of the peninsula. With the use of a battery of culture media, we will isolate soil microorganisms from plants growing in different parts of the peninsula and those with characteristics that suggest they may be used as biological control or growth promotion agents will be identified and characterized. Our isolation strategy includes general means, but also some specifically designed for the isolation of genres such as Streptomyces, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Azotobacter, and Azospirillum.

Pathogen Inhibition Assay

Greenhouse Assays

Bacteria Compatibility Assay

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