METABOLOMIC INTEGRATION OF BIOESTIMULATED Euterpe oleracea WITH Bacillus subtilis
Sustainability, biofertilization, metabolic alteration, carbon and nitrogen metabolism
The açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) is a palm tree native to the Amazon with a predominant habitat in lowland and upland areas. However, the slow growth and less vigor of açaí seedlings limit the expansion of commercial plantations. Microbial technology has gained prominence in the current scenario because it plays an important role in increasing productivity in various cultures, facilitating plant growth through different mechanisms such as phytohormone production, increasing the availability of phosphorus and expanding the root systems of plants to absorb more water and nutrients. Despite the beneficial knowledge of the plant-bacterial interaction, little is known about the regulatory pathways that connect growth control with the primary metabolism of açaí seedlings inoculated with B. subtilis (UFRA 92). The present study aims to elucidate the phenotypic marks (photosynthetic efficiency, accumulation of nutrients and increased growth), contributing to reduce the time to obtain seedlings (5 months) in the quality standard for the field. For this, the experiment produced seedlings with the following treatments: 1. control plants / water (without inoculation of the isolate) and 2. plants inoculated with UFRA 92 with [0.1x108]. The plants were collected 5 months after application of the UFRA 92 isolate. B. subtilis (UFRA 92) promoted increases in the sucrose content in the leaf tissue, which favored the expression of genes related to photosynthetic activity (A, gs and E). In addition, the increase in sucrose was correlated with changes in the intercellular concentration of CO2 (Ci) by 50%, suggesting that the isolate may increase Rubisco's carboxylation activity by regulating the stomatal opening that favors the fixation of mesophilic CO2. Changes in stomatal behavior were attributed to an increase of 145% in malate and 85% in potassium in leaves. The growth of açaí seedlings is directly correlated with efficient use of nutrients since the accumulation of nutrients in N, K, Mg, P, Ca, S, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn were on average 2 and 3 times higher in the tissue leaf and root, respectively compared to control plants. Another possible explanation for the growth of açaí plants is directly correlated with positive regulation of precursors for the synthesis of phytohormones (ascorbate, adenine and tryptophan), inorganic phosphorus for ATP production, of the energy generation pathways that resulted in increased root growth, greater carbon fixation and nitrogen assimilation. In this context, the information obtained offers a better understanding of the physiological and metabolic mechanisms of the beneficial interaction of B. subtilis (UFRA 92) in Euterpe oleracea.