CHARACTERIZATION OF PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING ACTIVITIES OF BACTERIAL ENDOPHYTES AND THEIR ANTIBACTERIAL POTENTIAL ISOLATED FROM CITRUS

In this study screening of novel bacterial endophytes isolated from the leaves of citrus were performed for plant growth
promoting activities which include Indole Acetic Acid (IAA), Siderophores and phosphate Solubilization. Isolated
bacterial endophytes were also tested for the screening of cell wall hydrolyzing enzymes production such as cellulase,
chitinase, protease, pectinase and lipase as well as antibacterial activity. Thirteen genera of different bacteria were
isolated and characterized from twelve different varieties of citrus on the basis of morphological, biochemical and
molecular 16S rRNA. Neighbor joining phylogenetic dandrogram showed that all the isolates have genetic relatedness
among them. According to results 75-80% of the strains were positive for plant growth promoting (PGP) and enzymatic
activities of test strains except few of them. However antibacterial activity were found positive in 68.75% of test cultures
while five isolates Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Bacillus megaterium and
Bacillus cereus did not show any antibacterial activity against any of the targeted bacterial strains. The data presented in
this article is unique and this type of work on these bacterial species has not been reported from citrus. The findings will
be helpful for the use of these endophytes to enhance the plant growth and yield. On the other hand, the study will be
equally beneficial to the scientist and farmers community.