Eggplant (Solanum melongena L) and pepper (Capsicum annum) are priorities of organic foodstuffs programs in Santiago de Cuba. Seedlings of both, eggplant and pepper are cultivated under organic substrates made of earthworm castings, vegetal residues and soil, which supplies key nutrients but are lacking of plant hormones that may be supplied by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. In the present research, the effects of a biological formulation made with the rhizobacteria strain Brevibacillus borstelensis B65 on germination and growth of eggplant and pepper seedlings sowed under organic treatment were evaluated. Eggplant and pepper seeds were treated and not (control) with the bacterial formulation and transferred into an organic substrate mixture of earthworm castings and soil (1:1). The seeds were maintained under controlled conditions and grown during 25 days. The results showed the effects of B65, increasing the eggplant and pepper seeds percentage of germination in 12 and 8 % upper their respective controls. In addition, the bacteria increased the pepper seedlings emergence from their dormancy stage. Both effects were attributed to the ethylene phytohormone secretion activity of B65. Brevibacillus borstelensis B65 significantly increased in compare to their respective controls, the seedlings and shots length as root growth in eggplant and pepper. Also, B65 increased the roots, leaves and shoots weight. Those effects were all related with B65 indolacetic acid production levels and with its calcium phosphate solubilization activity. The strain B65 positively affects eggplant and pepper plantlets germination and development under organic treatment, corroborating its plant growth promoting traits

Los cultivos de berenjena (Solanum melongena L) y de ají (Capsicum annun L) constituyen prioridades del programa de producción de alimentos en Santiago de Cuba. La preparación d e los semilleros de hortalizas se realiza con substratos elaborados a partir de humus de lombriz, residuos agrícolas y suelo, los cuales aportan nutrientes a las posturas pero carecen de fitohormonas, las que pueden ser suministradas por los inoculantes elaborados con rizobacterias estimuladoras del crecimiento vegetal. En la presente investigación se evaluaron los efectos de un biopreparado de la rizobacteria Brevibacillus borstelensis B65 sobre la germinación y el desarrollo de las posturas de berenjena y de ají en fase de semillero. Las semillas de ambos cultivos tratadas y no tratadas (control) con la bacteria, se cultivaron en una mezcla de humus de lombriz y tierra (1:1) bajo condiciones protegidas durante 25 días. Los resultados mostraron los efectos de B65 sobre el aumento del porcentaje de germinación de la berenjena (12 %) y del ají (8 %) por encima de sus controles. Igualmente, la bacteria aceleró la emergencia de las plántulas de ají a partir de su estado de dormancia. Ambos efectos se atribuyeron a la capacidad de B65 de excretar la fitohormona etileno. La bacteria B65 aumentó de manera significativa respecto al control, el tamaño de las posturas, la longitud del tallo y de las raíces en ambos cultivos; así como la masa del tallo, de las raíces y de las hojas. Estos efectos se relacionaron con los niveles de ácido indolacético producidos por este microorganismo y con su actividad solubilizadora de fosfato de calcio. Brevibacillus borstelensis B65 incidió significativamente sobre la germinación y el desarrollo de las posturas de berenjena y de ají listas para el trasplante cultivadas en abono orgánico, corroborando la actividad estimuladora del crecimiento vegetal de esta bacteria

An online scheme to assign Stenotrophomonas isolates to genomic groups was developed using the multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), which is based on the DNA sequencing of selected fragments of the housekeeping genes ATP synthase alpha subunit (atpA), the recombination repair protein (recA), the RNA polymerase alpha subunit (rpoA) and the excision repair beta subunit (uvrB). This MLSA-based scheme was validated using eight of the 10 Stenotrophomonas species that have been previously described. The environmental and nosocomial Stenotrophomonas strains were characterised using MLSA, 16S rRNA sequencing and DNA-DNA hybridisation (DDH) analyses. Strains of the same species were found to have greater than 95% concatenated sequence similarity and specific strains formed cohesive readily recognisable phylogenetic groups. Therefore, MLSA appeared to be an effective alternative methodology to amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprint and DDH techniques. Strains of Stenotrophomonas can be readily assigned through the open database resource that was developed in the current study (www.steno.lncc.br/).

O estudo da cinética de crescimento de Acetivibrio cellulolyticus cultivado em três diferentes substratos celulósicos (celulose amorfa, celulose cristalina e celobiose) revelou que em celobiose, a velocidade específica de crescimento foi maior que nos dois tipos de celulose. A atividade de endoglicanase foi maior em celulose amorfa; em celulose cristalina a atividade enzimática, aumentou durante a fase estacionária.

The growth kinetics of Acetivibrio cellulolyticus grown in medium containing different carbon sources (cellobiose, amorphous or crystalline cellulose) was investigated. The specific growth rate was higher in cellobiose fed cultures than in the presence of the other two substrates. Endoglucanase production was greater in cultures grown on amorphous cellulose; enzyme activity increased during the stationary phase in cultures grown on crystalline cellulose.