Journal of Plant Pathology & Microbiology

Abstract

Screening of Groundnut Plant Associated Rhizobacteria for Multiple Plant Beneficial Plant Growth Promoting Traits

Arti Thakur and Samir C Parikh

Objective: The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria are promising, sustainable approach for the world present food and environmental crisis. This research was devised to screen the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial isolates in context to search for a candidate of potent bioinoculant formulation for enhanced sustainable productivity.

Methods: Previously isolated 50 different bacterial morphotypes were screened for their plant growth promoting traits of phosphate solubilization, auxin hormone production, ammonia production, HCN, chitinase production, antagonistic activity against fungal pathogens Sclerotium rolfsii and Aspergillus niger and for seed germination assay.

Results and conclusion: Among 50 selected isolates, 58.00% of the isolates were phosphate solubilizers where the isolates GSH 1 and GSB 13 were the most promising, 54% exhibited the production of auxin hormone where the three isolates GST 3, GSB 13 and GSH 1 were the most efficient. 70% isolates exhibited the production of ammonia among the strains GSL 4 and GST 7, showed the highest efficiency. Only 6 (12%) of the selected isolates were HCN producer and two (4%) isolates were enzyme chitinase producer. 5 (10%) isolates exhibited the antagonistic activity for fungal pathogens Sclerotium rolfsii and Aspergillus niger, among two isolates GSB 5 (47.96% and 30.67%) and GSB 2 (45.41% and 23.85%) showed the maximum inhibitory effect against both fungal pathogens. 10% of the rhizobacterial isolates showed a significant enhancement of the seed germination rate. The study showed that the groundnut plant associated rhizobacterial isolates possessed the PGPR traits and thereby can be exploited to be used as biofertilizers.