This study was to examine the effects of polysaccharides from a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) Bacillus cereus on the growth and tanshinone production of Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy roots. A polysaccharide fraction designated BPS was isolated from the hot water extract of B.cereus cells by ethanol precipitation. BPS applied to the root culture at 100-400 mgl(-1) a few days before the stationary growth phase stimulated the tanshinone accumulation of roots by about 7-fold (1.59 mg g(-1) versus 0.19 mg g(-1)) and also notably promoted the root growth (15% increase in biomass). BPS was a polysaccharide-protein complex containing about 27% protein, which is essential for root growth promotion. BPS was separated by ultrafiltration into two molecular weight (MW) fractions, of which the high MW fraction (similar to 35.8 kDa) with higher protein content (similar to 31%) promoted the root growth while the lower MW fraction with lower protein content (similar to 17%) suppressed the growth. The results suggest that the polysaccharide portion of BPS was responsible for stimulating the tanshinone accumulation while the protein portion was responsible for promoting the hairy root growth. Polysaccharides from PGPR are potential sources of active elicitors and growth-promoting agents for plant roots in culture. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.