Production of Indole-3-Acetic Acid by Enterobacter sp. DMKU-RP206 Using Sweet Whey as a Low-Cost Feed Stock.

In this study, we investigated Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production by a rice phylloplane bacteria, Enterobacter sp. DMKU-RP206, using sweet whey as a feed stock instead of lactose. We succeeded in using sweet whey for Enterobacter sp. DMKU-RP206 to produce 3,963.0 mg IAA/l with the optimal medium containing 1.48% sweet whey, 1.42% yeast extract and 0.88% L-tryptophan. The medium pH was adjusted to 6 and the culture conditions were shaking at 200 rpm on an orbital shaker at 30°C for 3 days. We also evaluated the effect of IAA in culture filtrates of Enterobacter sp. DMKU-RP206 on the promotion of jasmine rice growth in a pot experiment. Compared with the negative control (without IAA), the result showed that biosynthetic IAA produced by Enterobacter sp. DMKU-RP206 significantly increased the growth of jasmine rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. KDML105) in terms of length and dry weight of shoot. This work thus reveals the impact of IAA produced by Enterobacter sp. on the promotion of jasmine rice growth.