Effect of sodium salicylate on the population dynamics of the rhizobacterium Pseudomonas aureofaciens in the wheat rhizoplane and adjacent soil

The effect, of sodium salicylate on the population dynamics of the rhizobac terium Pseudomonas aureofaciens BS1393 and its variant bearing the naphthal ene biodegradation plasmid pBS216 was studied in the wheat rhizoplane and a djacent soil. Optimum salicylate concentration for the maintenance of the p lasmid-bearing strain and for the normal growth of wheat was found to be 25 0 mug/g soil. When the soil was supplemented with salicylate, the populatio n of P. aureofaciens BS1393(pBS216) in the wheat rhizoplane and adjacent so il was, respectively, 4- and 20-fold higher than that of the parent strain lacking the plasmid.