Long-term effect of inoculating lodgepole pine seedlings with plant growth-promoting bacteria originating from disturbed gravel mining ecosystem
Gravel mining is prevalent in forest landscapes of Canada, typically resulting in complete loss of vegetation and topsoil. Despite such extreme disturbance, lodgepole pine (<i>Pinus contorta</i> var. <i>latifolia</i>) trees are thriving at unreclaimed gravel pits located in central-interior British Columbia, possibly due, at least in part, to the association of pine trees with their endophytic bacteria. Testing this possibility, several bacterial strains were previously isolated from pine trees growing at these pits, of which 14 were identified as effective nitrogen-fixers. In this study, we evaluated the inoculation effect of these 14 strains on lodgepole pine growth under nitrogen-poor conditions. Each strain colonized the rhizosphere and internal tissues of pine seedlings and significantly enhanced their length (24–65%) and biomass (100–300%), 18 months after sowing and inoculation. Notably, three <i>Pseudomonas</i> strains increased pine seedling length by 1.6-fold and biomass by 4-fold. Most strains also demonstrated substantial potential to promote plant growth via phosphorus solubilization, siderophore production, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase activity, indole-3-acetic acid production, lytic enzyme activity and catalase activity. Our results suggest that such effective bacteria could be sustaining pine growth on bare gravel, indicating a possible ecological association that may explain natural tree regeneration in such a disturbed ecosystem.