Plant growth promoting potential of Aspergillus sp. NPF7, isolated from wheat rhizosphere in South Gujarat, India

Abstract

Many plant growth promoting fungi (PGPF) that perform well under laboratory conditions, fail to do so under natural conditions. Only those PGPF that are acclimatized to the local agro-climatic conditions, can efficiently grow as compared to those that are brought from different agroclimatic conditions. PGPF isolated from local rhizosphere soil and used as locally adapted bio-inoculants are expected to give better performance. Production of phytohormones is an inherent property in all groups of PGPF. Here we report gibberellic acid (GA), indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophore producing and phosphate (P) solubilizing Aspergillus sp. NPF7 isolated from wheat rhizosphere as PGPF for wheat and chickpea. In total 12 fungal isolates were obtained from the different rhizosphere of four local crops in the vicinity of Surat city, Gujarat, India. Isolate, NPF7 produced copious amount of IAA (96 μgmL−1), GA (184.11 μgmL−1) and siderophore (87% SU) and efficiently solubilized phosphate (790 mgL−1). It was identified as Aspergillus sp. on the basis of homology of its 18S rDNA sequencing. Inoculation of plants with Aspergillus sp. promoted growth of wheat and chickpea significantly, enhanced germination index and root and shoot length over the control (uninoculated seeds). Aspergillus sp. NPF7 producing multiple plant growth promoting metabolites can be useful bioinoculant for wheat and chickpea.