Abstract
Cold-tolerant plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are of immense agronomic importance due to the fact that the winter season crop growing cycle is subject to varying spells of low temperatures and such PGPRs are metabolically functional at cold conditions. Thirty-five (35) rhizobacterial isolates were isolated from lentil rhizospheric soil, six isolates showing maximum exponential growth at both 10 and 15°C after 24 h were selected and characterized belonging to genera Bacillus and Pseudomonas. Production of indole acetic acid (IAA) ranged from 12.7-17.5 µgml-1 at 10°C to 18.4-20.4 μg/ml at 15°C. At 15°C, an isolate J-17 was found to be strong HCN producer whereas at 10°C, only two isolates: J-26 and J-30 were moderate producers. P-solubilizion at 15°C, ranged from 62.5 - 77.2 µgml-1. However, at 10°C none of the isolates solubilized P. At 15°C, catechol type siderophore production ranged from 523.4 - 606.1 µgml-1. On the basis of the PGP traits, four isolates J-3, J-17, J-18 and J-30 were selected for evaluation under field conditions of lentil at research farm of PAU, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Coinoculation exhibited a significant increase in nodule number, nodule dry weight, plant and root dry weight, chlorophyll and leghaemoglobin content over Rhizobium alone. Application of J-3, J-17, J-18 and J-30 along with Rhizobium further enhanced the grain yield (1.8, 4.4, 3 and 1.4%). Key words: HCN production, indole acetic acid, siderophore, P-solubilization.
Highlights
Lentil is the world’s fifth largest pulse crop with annual production of 3-4 Mt (Sharpe et al, 2013)
Lentil is constrained by extremities of temperature which are detrimental to the survival and functioning of most introduced mesophilic microorganisms
Rhizobacteria were isolated from ten different soil samples collected from different lentil growing fields in Punjab
Summary
Lentil is the world’s fifth largest pulse crop with annual production of 3-4 Mt (Sharpe et al, 2013). Lentil is constrained by extremities of temperature which are detrimental to the survival and functioning of most introduced mesophilic microorganisms. Such climatic conditions warrant the use of highly adapted microbial strains that retain their biological functions (Mishra et al, 2008). The seed inoculation with the appropriate rhizobia at sowing is a recommended practice, but in recent years, the potential of combined inoculation of N2-fixers and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is more effective than single organism (Khanna and Sharma, 2011). The present investigation deals with the isolation, characterization, determination of the growth promotion of cold tolerant PGPR and their coinoculation effects with.
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