We explored the seed-associated bacterial endophytic microbiome in seeds of the endemic holoparasitic species Cistanche armena from a saline and arid habitat in Armenia. A combination of culture-dependent and molecular techniques was employed for identifying the seed endomicrobiome (culturable and unculturable). From surface-sterilized seeds, 10 phyla, comprising 256 endophytic bacterial genera, were identified. Of the culturable strains, we also investigated the plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits. Most of the isolates were spore forming, halotolerant and alkaliphile Bacillus spp., indicating that the endophytic bacteria of C. armena seeds own traits related to the natural habitat of their host plant. Our results confirm that Bacillus species are common and dominated endophytes from plants growing on saline and arid soils. Pantoea spp. and Stenotrophomonas spp. are more favourable PGP endophytes in seeds of C. armena. The PGP traits of these bacteria, such as production of indole, a precursor of auxin, ACC-deaminase and organic acids have the potential to improve the tolerance of their host plants against the abiotic stresses present in their natural habitat. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report concerning bacterial seed endophytes of the C. armena.

中文翻译：

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亚美尼亚半沙漠地区地方性全寄生植物肉苁蓉（列当科）种子内生细菌的特征和多样性

我们探索了地方性全寄生物种种子中与种子相关的细菌内生微生物组肉苁蓉来自亚美尼亚的盐碱和干旱栖息地。采用培养依赖性和分子技术的组合来鉴定种子内微生物组（可培养和不可培养）。从表面灭菌的种子中，鉴定出 10 个门，包括 256 个内生细菌属。在可培养菌株中，我们还研究了植物生长促进 (PGP) 性状。大多数分离株是孢子形成的、耐盐的和嗜碱性的杆菌属spp., 表明内生细菌C.军械库种子具有与其寄主植物的自然栖息地相关的特征。我们的结果证实杆菌属种是生长在盐碱和干旱土壤上的植物中常见且占主导地位的内生菌。泛菌属属 和窄食单胞菌属属 是种子中更有利的 PGP 内生菌C.军械库. 这些细菌的 PGP 特性，例如生长素前体吲哚的产生、ACC 脱氨酶和有机酸，有可能提高其宿主植物对其自然栖息地中存在的非生物胁迫的耐受性。据我们所知，这是第一份关于细菌种子内生菌的报告C.军械库.