Development of Microbial Consortia for Growth Attributes and Protein Content in Micropropagated Bacopa monnieri (L.)

Abstract

The study was conducted for evaluation of the effect of microbial consortia for growth attributes and protein content of micropropagated plants of Bacopa monnieri. Five microbial strains e.g., Pseudomonas sp. BHUPSB04, Pseudomonas sp. BHUPSB06, Burkholderia sp. BHUPSB03, Bacillus sp. BHUPSB13 and Paenibacillus sp. BHUPSB16 were isolated and characterised on the basis of biochemical and molecular characters. Burkholderia sp. BHUPSB03 was screened as an effective and significant for phosphate solubilisation, production of indole-3-acetic acid, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide and siderophores. Hydrogen cyanide was produced by other strains namely Bacillus sp. BHUPSB13, Paenibacillus sp. BHUPSB16 and Pseudomonas sp. BHUPSB04. Higher indole-3-acetic acid production was recorded with Burkholderia sp. BHUPSB03 followed by Bacillus sp. BHUPSB13, Pseudomonas sp. BHUPSB04 and Pseudomonas sp. BHUPSB06 as compared to A. Brasilense and T. harzianum. Tetra inoculation of microbial consortia Azospirillum + Pseudomonas sp. BHUPSB06 + Trichoderma + Burkholderia sp. BHUPSB03 showed maximum growth attributes like shoot length, number of branching, dry weight and protein content in micropropagated plants of B. monnieri followed by tri-inoculation of A. brasilense + Pseudomonas sp. BHUPSB06 with Burkholderia sp. BHUPSB03/Pseudomonas sp. BHUPSB04/Paenibacillus sp. BHUPSB16/Bacillus sp. BHUPSB13 as compared to control and other treatments. Therefore, tetra and tri inoculations may be used as most efficient microbial consortia for enhancing the growth attributes and protein content in shoots of B. monnieri.