Patent ID: 9295263
Filing Date: 2016-03-29
CPC Classification: A01C,A01N,G01N

Claim Text:
1. A method for increasing tolerance to drought of a cereal agricultural plant, said method comprising: (a) contacting seed of said plant with a composition comprising a purified bacterial population that comprises a first bacterial endophyte and a second bacterial endophyte, wherein the first bacterial endophyte and second bacterial endophyte has a 16S nucleic acid sequence that is at least 97% identical to a 16S nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 521, 533, 560, 588, 658, and 856, wherein the first bacterial endophyte and the second bacterial endophyte are of different genera and have different 16S nucleic acid sequence, (b) and growing said seed to produce plants colonized with the endophyte bacteria, wherein the plants have increased tolerance to drought stress as compared to a reference plant grown under the same conditions.