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Isolation, partial characterization, and the effect of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) on micro-propagated sugarcane in vitro

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Abstract

We report the isolation of nitrogen fixing, phytohormone producing bacteria from sugarcane and their beneficial effects on the growth of micropropagated sugarcane plantlets. Detection of the nitrogen fixing bacteria by ARA-based MPN (acetylene reduction assay-based most probable number) method indicated the presence of up to 106 bacteria per gram dry weight of stem and 107 bacteria per gram dry weight of root of field-grown sugarcane. Two nitrogen fixing bacterial isolates were obtained from stem (SC11, SC20) and two from the roots (SR12, SR13) of field-grown plants. These isolates were identified as Enterobacter sp. strains on the basis of their morphological characteristics and biochemical tests. The isolate SC20 was further characterized by 16S rRNA sequence analysis, which showed high sequence similarity to the sequence of Enterobacter cloacae and Klebsiella oxytoca. All the isolates produced the phytohormone indoleacetic acid (IAA) in pure culture and this IAA production was enhanced in growth medium containing tryptophan. The bacterial isolates were used to inoculate micro-propagated sugarcane in vitro where maximum increase in the root and shoot weight over control was observed in the plantlets inoculated with strain SC20. By using the15N isotope dilution technique, maximum nitrogen fixation contribution (28% of total plant nitrogen) was detected in plantlets inoculated with isolate SC20.

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Author notes

  1. Kauser A. Malik

    Present address: Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box 1114, Islamabad, Pakistan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biofertilizer Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), P.O.Box 577, Jhang Road, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    M. Sajjad Mirza, Waseem Ahmad & Farooq Latif

  2. Laboratoire d'Ecologie Microbienne du Sol, UMR CNRS 5557, UCB Lyon1, 69622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    Jacqueline Haurat, Rene Bally, Philippe Normand & Kauser A. Malik

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  1. M. Sajjad Mirza
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  2. Waseem Ahmad
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  4. Jacqueline Haurat
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Correspondence to M. Sajjad Mirza.

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Sajjad Mirza, M., Ahmad, W., Latif, F. et al. Isolation, partial characterization, and the effect of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) on micro-propagated sugarcane in vitro. Plant and Soil 237, 47–54 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013388619231

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