Bioprospecting rhizobacteria associated to cacti to water stress resistance and biofilm formation

The aim of this study was to isolate and select bacteria from the cacti rhizosphere naturally occurring in an adverse environment in culture medium under water stress. Samples of rhizospheric cacti soil were collected in two distinct locations with natural occurrence of the Caatinga vegetation of the Alagoas State, Northeast Brazil. With the use of culture-dependent methodologies, the isolation and purification of the bacteria was performed for exopolysaccharide production analyzes by quantification of halos and biofilm formation in a spectrophotometer under optical density (OD) of 560 nm. In total, 42 strains were isolated, with the isolates BCM02, BCM06, BCM10 and BCM13 being the major producers of EPS, followed by bacteria BCM01, BCM05, BCM28 and BCM35 with medium production, and bacteria BCM22 and BCM33 with low production. On the other hand, for the biofilm formation, all the isolates were efficient in the synthesis of the same, being 38% of the bacteria with high formation performance. Thus, strains BCM02 and BCM28 presented the best results in evaluations of water stress tolerance mechanisms, and could later be used for future tests to promote plant growth.