Screening and evaluation of PGPR strains having multiple PGP traits from hilly terrain
Singh Teg Bahadur, Vikram Sahai, Ali Akbar, Prasad Mrinalini, Yadav Arti, Preksha Shrivastav, Goyal Deepika, Dantu Prem Kumar
Abstract
Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) with multiple beneficial traits serve as potentially, ecofriendly, and cost-effective alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They have both direct and indirect affirmative impacts on overall plant growth and health. PGPRs are well known to directly improve the plant growth by phytohormone production and availability of minerals in soil. A total of nine soil samples were taken from near the rhizospheric zone of different crops and 56 rhizobacterial strains were isolated. Only 16 out of 56 rhizobacterial strains were found positive for more than one beneficial trait that included solubilization of phosphate, indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, ammonia and H 2 S production. Among all PGPR strains, RKM15 was observed having the highest phosphate solubilizing index (3.4), solubilized phosphorus (339 mg L -1 ) and also siderophore unit (70.54 %). The maximum IAA production was observed by RKM25 strain (35.56 g ml -1 ). The most promising RKM15 isolate was identified as Pantoea dispersa (MN629239) through 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique. This characterized PGPR strain may be used for the development of biofertilizers to enhance crop productivity and improvement in soil fertility.