Identification and quantification of endophytic microorganisms in bamboo grown in vitro

• Grant number: 11/13565-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2011
• End date: September 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Danielle Gregorio Gomes Caldas
• Grantee: Rafael Della Coletta
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Due to the increasing market demand for products aiming at sustainable development, bamboo has shown great importance in this sector, mainly because it is a great renewable resource that can be applied in several areas. However, there are not enough plants to meet all this demand. Micropropagation, which is a good alternative to produce these plants on a large scale, is not very efficient, making it necessary to develop new protocols. To optimize this process, it is suggested the use of Temporary Immersion Bioreactor (TIB), as its ability to increase the efficiency of micropropagation has already been proven in other cultures. However, the concept that tissue culture should occur in totally axenic culture media is changing. The presence of endophytic bacteria in the microenvironment is of great importance, especially for assisting the plant in the production of substances that ensure their development during the tissue culture until acclimation stage. Therefore, the objective of this work is to build libraries of bamboo endophytic of the TIB system, using 16S rRNA to identify these microorganisms. In addition, the representative microorganisms of the system will be quantified over the subcultures by quantitative PCR (qPCR or Real Time PCR). These analyses can provide important answers about the plant x endophytic interactions in order to direct the optimization of protocols for bamboo micropropagation. (AU)