Endophytic bacteria promote growth and increase the aloin content of Aloe vera

Abstract

Aloe vera is among the world’s economically most important medicinal plants, but as the growth of this plant and, consequently, the accumulation of metabolites is slow, we tested the hypothesis that root endophytic bacteria isolated from A. vera plants can promote growth and increase the accumulation of aloin in the gel and latex. For this, we inoculate seedlings with four endophytic bacteria and a combination of them. We confirmed the hypothesis and identified two strains with potential for the formulation of inoculants to improve the cultivation of A. vera. The bacterium 149H Paraburkholderia sp. increases the number of leaves and the accumulation of biomass, but on the other hand, 35V Enterobacter ludwigii inoculation increased the content of aloin in the gel and in the latex. Further research should focus on the association of these two strains in a single inoculant, to both promote growth and increase the synthesis of metabolites.