Characterization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria from legume rhizosphere

Legumes have been used in agricultural production since the earliest of civilizations. They have served as the primary source of nitrogen for many cropping systems, as well as providing food for humans and domestic animals. In many developing agricultural regions of the world, legumes are still used extensively for these purposes. However, in the last several decades, the widespread availability of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has resulted in a major decrease in the cultivation of legumes. Thus it is important both in terms of crop productivity and soil health that biofetilizers should be used. The present study aimed at characterization of growth promotion potential of rhizobacteria of legume crop. The rhizobacterial population (log10cfu) varied significantly from 5.44 to 7.36. The rhizobacterial population was found to vary in species richness from 0d to 90d of cropping. Bacillus was documented to be dominant population of zero day (40%) while Pseudomonas was the dominant population (33%) on 30th day of cropping. On 60th day of cropping Pseudomonas became a predominant population (50%) while on 90th day of cropping Pseudomonas and Corynebacterium were the dominant population (30%). These isolates exhibit a significant plant growth promotion attributes viz., siderophore production, phosphorus solubilization, protease and rhamnolipid production.

Author(s): Seema Rawat* and Asifa Mushtaq

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