STUDY ON EFFECT OF POTENTIAL ENDOPHYTIC BACTERIA ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF CHILLI (Capsicum annum L.) AND TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.) SUMA C.
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Date
2023-12-26
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Abstract
Bacterial Endophytes were known for its novel functionality and offer more benefits
by interacting with the host in variable environmental conditions. Diversified role of
endophytes are being studied in order to enhance their use in agriculture production system.
Considering the enormous potential use of the endophytic bacteria a research programme has
been framed to study the effect of potential endophytic bacteria on growth and yield of chilli
and tomato. In the present study, attempt was made to isolate 48 endophytic bacteria from
root, stem and leaves of chilli and tomato crop plants which are collected from north eastern
zones of Karnataka. The maximum number of bacterial endophytes were found in root than
stem and leaves in both crops. These isolates were characterized and identified upto genus
level based on morphological and biochemical properties. Most of the endophytic bacterial
isolates showed plant growth-promoting (PGP) activity like nitrogen fixing ability, phosphate
solubilizing activity, zinc and potassium solubilizing efficiency, production of indole acetic
acid (IAA), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC), siderophore and HCN. Few isolates
showed antagonistic activity against Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani and
Colletotrichum spp. The eight efficient endophytic bacterial isolates were selected for
molecular characterization (ESK-26, ESR-6, ESK-32, ESY-15, ESB-44, ESR-5, ESR-8 and
ESY-24) which performed better under in vitro screening. Through 16S rRNA sequence
using specific primers, eight isolates were identified as Bacillus aryabhattai, Pseudomonas
fluorescens, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Acinetobacter
radioresistens, Pseudomonas japonica and Microbacterium barkeri. Five isolates ESK-26,
ESR-6, ESK-32, ESY-15 and ESB-44 were selected for greenhouse study. Based on the
performance of endophytic bacteria under pot culture experiment three most efficient isolates
(ESK-26, ESR-6 and ESK-32) were selected and screened under field conditions. These
bacterial endophytes either individually or in combination with reduced amount of fertilizers
improved plant growth and yield of the chilli and tomato.