ORIGINAL PAPER Genetic diversity and plant-growth related features of Burkholderia spp. from sugarcane roots Danice M. Luvizotto • Joelma Marcon • Fernando D. Andreote • Francisco Dini-Andreote • Aline A. C. Neves • Welington L. Arau ´jo • Aline A. Pizzirani-Kleiner Received: 7 October 2009 / Accepted: 17 February 2010 / Published online: 3 March 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 Abstract Brazil is the largest sugarcane producer in the world, mainly due to the development of different man- agement strategies. Recently, microbial-plant related studies revealed that bacterial isolates belonging to the genus Burkholderia are mainly associated with this plant and are responsible for a range of physiological activity. In this study, we properly evaluate the physiological activity and genetic diversity of endophytic and rhizospheric Burkholderia spp. isolates from sugarcane roots grown in the field in Brazil. In total, 39 isolates previously identified as Burkholderia spp. were firstly evaluated for the capa- bility to fix nitrogen, produce siderophores, solubilise inorganic phosphates, produce indole-acetic acid and inhibit sugarcane phytopathogens in vitro. These results revealed that all isolates present at least two positive evaluated activities. Furthermore, a phylogenetic study was carried out using 16S rRNA and gyrB genes revealing that most of the isolates were affiliated with the Burkholderia cepacia complex. Hence, a clear separation given by endophytic or rhizospheric niche occupation was not observed. These results presented an overview about Burkholderia spp. isolates from sugarcane roots and supply information about the physiological activity and genetic diversity of this genus, given direction for further studies related to achieve more sustainable cultivation of sugarcane. Keywords Burkholderia cepacia  Endophytic  Rhizobacteria  16S rRNA  gyrB  Bacterial diversity Introduction Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) occupies a prominent position among the important crops in the world. Brazil is the largest producer of this crop, dominating the market of sugar and ethanol-derived in the last few years (Goldem- berg 2007). Therefore, a better understanding of the role played by the bacterial community associated with sugar- cane could be a key to improve the performance and sus- tainability of sugarcane cultivation. Some endophytic and rhizospheric bacteria have been explored intensively given their beneficial characteristics such as promotion of plant growth and protection against pests and pathogens (Lodewyckx et al. 2002). These bac- teria may increase plant fitness by nitrogen fixation, pro- duction of phytohormones and antimicrobial substances and induction of systemic resistance. A wide variety of bacteria are able to colonize sugarcane plants; however, the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) has been shown to be D. M. Luvizotto Graduate Program in Agricultural Microbiology, Escola Superior de Agricultura ‘‘Luiz de Queiroz’’, University of Sa ˜o Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil D. M. Luvizotto  F. Dini-Andreote  A. A. Pizzirani-Kleiner Department of Genetics, Escola Superior de Agricultura ‘‘Luiz de Queiroz’’, University of Sa ˜o Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil J. Marcon Biotechnology Center of Amazo ˆnia, Manaus, AM, Brazil F. D. Andreote Department of Soil Science, Escola Superior de Agricultura ‘‘Luiz de Queiroz’’, University of Sa ˜o Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil A. A. C. Neves  W. L. Arau ´jo (&) Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Microbial Ecology, NIB, University of Mogi das Cruzes, Mogi das Cruzes, SP 08780-911, Brazil e-mail: welingtonluiz@umc.br 123 World J Microbiol Biotechnol (2010) 26:1829–1836 DOI 10.1007/s11274-010-0364-0