Screening of endophytic bacteria towards the development of cottage industry: an in Vitro study

Abstract

Discovery of novel technology which use beneficial endophytic bacteria associated with the root of Sorghum bicolor, Spinacia oleracea, and Zea mays was researched. Total of 23 endophytic bacteria were characterized on the basis biochemical analysis and plant growth-promoting traits. Results showed that Gramnegative (60.8%) were isolated more frequently than Gram-positive bacteria (39.1%). Approximately 65.2% were motile and the remaining 34.7% were non-motile. Eleven isolates were able to produce indole acetic (IAA) (0.15-2.84 mgl-1). Eleven isolates showed the ability to produce ammonium. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production was observed in 10 isolates. It was observed that 16 isolates solubilized insoluble phosphates in Pikovskya plates (8-60.5%). All the isolates tested were active against Fusarium oxysporum. Therefore, following these tests it can be concluded that 11 isolates exhibited differences and they were subjected to partial 16S-rDNA gene sequencing using polymerase chain reaction for phylogenetic analysis. MEGA 5.10 package was used to identify the following isolated bacteria: Pseudomonas sp. (KC010520), Ochrobactrum intermedium (KC010521), Ochrobactrum intermedium (KC010522), Ochrobactrum anthropi (KC010523), Ochrobactrum anthropi (KC010524) Ochrobactrum sp TOA62, and Ochrobactrum sp TOA64. Inoculation of Zea mays seeds with the identified bacterial showed a good level of germination (66%) compared to the control (44%).