Photoperiod regulates elicitation of growth promotion but not induced resistance by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria

For several years, we have noticed that plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), which consistently promote plant growth in greenhouse tests during spring, summer, and fall, fail to elicit plant growth promotion during the midwinter under ambient light conditions. This report tests the hypothesis that photoperiod regulates elicitation of growth promotion and induced systemic resistance (ISR) by PGPR. A commercially available formulation of PGPR strains Bacillus subtilis GB03 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens IN937a (BioYield((R))) was used to grow tomato and pepper transplants under short-day (8 h of light) (SD) and long-day (12 h of light) (LD) conditions. Results of many experiments indicated that under LD conditions, BioYield consistently elicited significant increases in root and shoot mass as well as in several parameters of root architecture. However, under SD conditions, such increases were not elicited. Differential root colonization of plants grown under LD and SD conditions and changes in leachate quality partially account for these results. BioYield elicited ISR in tomato and pepper under both LD and SD conditions, indicating that although growth promotion was not elicited under SD conditions, induced resistance was. Overall, the results indicate that PGPR-mediated growth promotion is regulated by photoperiod, while ISR is not.