Regular application of synthetic chemicals in rice ecosystem led to loss of nitrogen (N) and affected the native microbial communities. Controlled release fertilizers (CRFs), a solution to poor nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of urea and associated environmental implications while diminished economic advantages by high CRF use, is major obstacle that still exists. Reviving the diazotrophic native bacteria from rice cultivated locations should be the alternate for bounciness of potential bioinoculants for better performance and yield enhancement. In the present investigation, two potential nitrogen fixing bacteria, Pseudomonas lini GHM32 and Brevundimonas nasdae GHM62 isolated from rice rhizosphere on Rennie medium. These two bacteria were evaluated for yield and NUE in field studies in a randomized block design with treatments, T 1 - 100% recommended dose of nitrogen through neem coated urea (RDN), T 2 - 50% RDN, T 3 - 50% RDN + P. lini GHM32, T 4 - 50% RDN + B. nasdae GHM62 and T 5 - co-application of both bacterial isolates during Rabi -2020-21 (dry season) and Kharif- 2021 (wet season). Experimental results for plant height, chlorophyll, nitrogen content and yield in T 3 were on par T 1 . Nitrogen use efficiency indices, such as partial factor productivity (PFP), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and nitrogen requirement (NR) of T 3 were at par T 1 throughout the experimental period. This is the first report with field trials on P. lini and B. nasdae as potential diazotrophic bacterial application by reduction in application of inorganic N fertilizer through neem coated urea with a focus on NUE indices and yield improvement of rice.

The main objectives of the present investigation was to characterize and recognize potential indigenous Rhizobium spp. associated with red clover nodules, as well as to evaluate the influence of prospective rhizobia inoculation (individual and consortia) on common bean plant growth. Total of 8 rhizobia like bacteria were isolated and were investigated for their specific PGP traits, production of hydrolytic enzymes. Results revealed, four isolates synthesize IAA (22.3 ± 1.45 to 88.6 ± 1.45 μg mL−1), three isolates solubilized phosphate (40.69 ± 1.25 to 216.3 ± 1.31 μg mL−1), three isolates solubilized potassium, produced siderophore, and showed chitinase production, two isolates possess ACC deaminase activity, one isolate was able to solubilize zinc, 5 isolates produced β- 1, 3-glucanase (0.38 ± 0.005 to 2.82 ± 0.011 % units) and four isolates produced cellulase. Two bacterial isolates found to exhibit most of the PGP activities, were selected and identified on the basis of phenotypic, biochemical tests and 16S rRNA sequencing, as Rhizobium tropici IHTF-1 and Rhizobium mayense IHTF-2. Interaction of these potential rhizobium strains individually and consortia with common bean plants under greenhouse conditions boosted root and shoot length, fresh and dry biomass compared to un-inoculated control plants. SEM study revealed that both the strains, IHTF-1 and IHTF-2 colonized common bean roots. These results imply that Rhizobium spp., identified in this work, can be used as bio-inoculants to increase common bean plant production in a sustainable way.

Medicinal plants are rich sources of several diverse bioactive constituents with a wide range of biological effects. The screening of bioactive compounds plays a vital role in the protection of human health. Maerua oblongifolia (Forssk.) A. Rich., belonging to the family Capparaceae, is an important medicinal plant used in many ayurvedic formulations. The main aim of the current investigation was to study the phytochemical compounds in the leaves of M. oblongifolia using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The GC–MS study revealed the presence of 21 phytochemical compounds with high and low molecular weight chemical entities. The main bioactive compounds are hexadecenoic acid, methyl ester (RT-19.171; 2.03%), n -Hexadecanoic acid (RT-19.515; 2.07%), 13-Octadecanoic acid (RT-20.869; 2.49%) and Oleic acid (RT-21.209; 2.34%). The compounds have been identified by interpretation of the mass spectra. The presence of various bioactive compounds with diverse chemical structures confirms the application of leaves of M. oblongifolia for several diseases with fewer side effects. Hence, the plant is suggested as pharmaceutically important. Further, isolation of individual bioactive compounds may be necessary to find a novel drug.

Background and Objectives:Sustainability in agricultural systems without compromising the environmental quality and conservation is one of the major concerns of today's world. The excessive use of agrochemicals is posing serious threats to the environment. Therefore identification of efficient plant growth promoting (PGP) bacteria as an alternative to chemically synthesized fertilizers is of great interest.Materials and Methods:In the present investigation, forest soil samples collected were used for isolation of efficient plant growth promoting bacteria.Results:Total of 14 bacteria were isolated, and tested for various PGP properties. Out of the 14 isolates, four isolates labelled as BKOU-1, BKOU-8, BKOU-13 and BKOU-14 showed significant plant growth promoting traits, hydrolytic enzyme production and effectively restricted the mycelial development of phyto-pathogenic fungi (Fusarium oxysporum and Macrophomina phaseolina). 16 S rRNA gene sequences of the bacterial isolates BKOU-1, BKOU-8, BKOU-13 and BKOU-14 were found to have maximum identity with Bacillus aerius, Bacillus infantis, Alcaligenes faecalis and Klebsiella Oxytoca respectively. All four bacterial isolates nucleotide sequences were submitted to GenBank and NCBI accession numbers were generated as follows: OL721916, OL721918, OL721919 and OL721926.Conclusion:According to the findings of the study, these PGPR could be employed as biofertilizers/biopesticides to boost crop yield of different crops in sustainable manner.

A diverse group of rhizobacteria persists in the rhizospheric soil, on the surface of roots, or in association with rice plants. These bacteria colonize plant root systems, enhance plant growth and crop yield. Indigenous rhizobacteria are known to promote soil health, grain production quality and serve as sustainable bioinoculant. The present study was aimed to isolate, identify and characterize indigenous plant growth promoting (PGP) diazotrophic bacteria associated with the rhizosphere of rice fields from different areas of Jammu and Kashmir, India. A total of 15 bacteria were isolated and evaluated for various PGP traits, antagonistic activity against phytopathogens, production of hydrolytic enzymes and biofilm formation under in-vitro conditions. The majority of the isolated bacteria were Gram-negative. Out of 15 bacterial isolates, nine isolates produced IAA (12.24 ± 2.86 to 250.3 ± 1.15 μg/ml), 6 isolates exhibited phosphate solubilization activity (36.69 ± 1.63 to 312.4 ± 1.15 μg/ml), 7 isolates exhibited rock phosphate solubilization while 5 isolates solubilized zinc (10–18 mm), 7 isolates showed siderophore production, 8 isolates exhibited HCN production, 6 isolates exhibited aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity, 13 isolates exhibited cellulase activity, nine isolates exhibited amylase and lipase activity and six isolates exhibited chitinase activity. In addition, 5 isolates showed amplification with the nifH gene and showed a significant amount of nitrogenase activity in a range of 0.127–4.39 μmol C2H4/mg protein/h. Five isolates viz., IHK-1, IHK-3, IHK-13, IHK-15 and IHK-25 exhibited most PGP attributes and successfully limited the mycelial growth of Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum in-vitro. All the five bacterial isolates were identified based on morphological, biochemical and 16S rDNA gene sequencing study, as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Enterobacter sp., Bacillus sp., Ochrobactrum haematophilum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Rice plants developed from seeds inoculated with these PGP strains individually had considerably higher germination percentage, seed vigor index and total dry biomass when compared to control. These findings strongly imply that the PGP diazotrophic bacteria identified in this work could be employed as plant growth stimulators in rice.

In this study, copper oxide nanospheres (CuO-NSs) were synthesized using Long pepper (Piper longum) extract. The biomolecules present in Piper longum extract are mainly responsible for reducing metal ions to metal nano -particles. The synthesized CuO-NSs were characterized using SEM (scanning electron microscopy), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction), and UV-Vis spectroscopic techniques. SEM and TEM images indicated that the as-prepared CuO-NSs were floral spherical nanospheres shaped with a size distribution ranging from 4 to 400 nm. Besides, the synthesized CuO-NSs have shown crucial biological activity against pathogenic bacterial strains, viz. Klebsiella pneumonia, Bacillus subtilis, and Escherichia coli. The antimicrobial activity of CuO-NSs was scrutinized by an exemplary disk diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration of CuO-NSs against various strains of bacteria. Furthermore, as-synthesized CuO-NSs was also applied as a po-tential material for hemolysis activity and determined its cytotoxicity effect on A549 cells. CuO-NSs has been tested in A549 cells, and the results of different characterization techniques confirmed that the synthesized CuO-NSs exhibited unique optical, morphological, antibacterial, and anticancer behaviors. The study elucidates the Piper longum effectiveness on uncontrolled cell division parameters, and different cancer reductions from in-vitro analysis. The Long pepper (Piper longum) extract with CuO-NSs could significantly stimulate carcinogenic con-ditions because of discrete standards that penetrate the target cells and good potential against the bacterial strains.

Surfactin lipopeptide is an eco-friendly microbially synthesized bioproduct that holds considerable potential in therapeutics (antibiofilm) as well as in agriculture (antifungal). In the present study, production of surfactin by a marine strain Bacillus velezensis MS20 was carried out, followed by physico-chemical characterization, anti-biofilm activity, plant growth promotion, and quantitative Reverse Transcriptase—Polymerase Chain Reaction (q RT-PCR) studies. From the results, it was inferred that MS20 was found to produce biosurfactant (3,300 mg L–1) under optimized conditions. From the physicochemical characterization [Thin layer chromatography (TLC), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (LC/MS), and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification] it was revealed to be surfactin. From bio-assay and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, it was observed that surfactin (MIC 50 μg Ml–1) has appreciable bacterial aggregation against clinical pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC424, Escherichia coli MTCC43, Klebsiella pneumoniae MTCC9751, and Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and mycelial condensation property against a fungal phytopathogen Rhizoctonia solani. In addition, the q-RTPCR studies revealed 8-fold upregulation (9.34 ± 0.11-fold) of srfA-A gene compared to controls. Further, treatment of maize crop (infected with R. solani) with surfactin and MS20 led to the production of defense enzymes. In conclusion, concentration and synergy of a carbon source with inorganic/mineral salts can ameliorate surfactin yield and, application wise, it has antibiofilm and antifungal activities. In addition, it induced systemic resistance in maize crop, which makes it a good candidate to be employed in sustainable agricultural practices.

Six rhizobia-like-bacterial strains in total, secluded from the root and stem nodules of various leguminous plants were characterized for growth promoting ability on ICCV 2 variety of chickpea. Bacterial strains showed production of IAA, NH3, siderophore, HCN, ACC deaminase, hydrolytic enzyme production such as chitinase, amylase, protease, lipase, β-1, 3-glucanase and solubilization of nutrients such as phosphate, zinc and potassium. However the performance of PGP traits characterized in-vitro varied among the six bacterial strains. The sequences of 16S rRNA gene of bacterial strains IHSR, IHRG, IHAA, IHGN-3, IHCP-1 and IHCP-2 showed maximum identity with Rhizobium sp., Rhizobium tropici, Rhizobium multihospitium, Mesorhizobium sp., Burkholderia cepacia and Rhizobium pusense. In plate culture conditions the bacterial strains changed the colour of media (NFB) from green to blue and showed amplification of nifH gene by PCR, and also enhanced nodule formation in chickpea under greenhouse conditions, which explains their nitrogen fixing ability. Scanning electron microscopy studies of chickpea roots showed colonization by all the six bacterial strains in solo and by consortium (IHRG + IHGN-3). Under greenhouse conditions, chickpea plants inoculated with different strains showed improvement in plant height, number of branches, total chlorophyll, nodule number, nodule weight, shoot weight, root weight, root volume and root surface area at 30 and 45 days after sowing (DAS) over the uninoculated control plants. It was also observed at the crop maturity stage all the bacterial strains inoculated separately enhanced pod number, seed number and total NPK compared to uninoculated control plants. This study suggests that bacteria associated with root and stem nodules can be a promising resource to enhance nodulation, PGP and crop yields in chickpea.

Six rhizobia-like-bacterial strains in total, secluded from the root and stem nodules of various leguminous plants were characterized for growth promoting ability and nitrogen fixation potential on ICCV 2 variety of chickpea. All the six bacteria, were found to produce PGP traits including IAA, NH 3 , protease, lipase, cellulase, β-1, 3-glucanase, siderophore, ACC deaminase (except IHSR), chitinase (except IHSR, IHAA and IHCP-1), amylase (except IHSR, IHRG and IHAA), hydrocyanic acid (except IHGN-3), solubilize phosphate, zinc (except IHSR), rock phosphate (except IHSR and IHCP-2) and potassium (except IHSR, IHRG, IHGN-3 and IHCP-2). The sequences of 16S rRNA gene of IHSR, IHRG, IHAA, IHGN-3, IHCP-1 and IHCP-2 showed maximum identity with Rhizobium sp., Rhizobium tropici , Rhizobium multihospitium , Mesorhizobium sp., Burkholderia cepacia and Rhizobium pusense . All the isolated bacteria showed nodule formation with chickpea, amplified nifH gene and fixed nitrogen. SEM study of chickpea roots showed a significant degree of colonization by all the six bacterial strains in solo and by consortium. Seeds of chickpea, when treated with the isolated bacteria, increased the plant height, number of branches, total chlorophyll, nodule number, nodule weight, shoot weight, root weight, root volume and root surface area respectively at 30 and 45 DAS, over the control plants. At the crop maturity, the diazotrophic bacteria treated pots exhibited enhanced pod number, shoot weight, seed number, total NPK respectively, over the control plants. This study suggests that bacteria associated with root and stem nodules can be a promising resource for enhancing nodulation, nitrogen fixation, PGP and crop yields in chickpea.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is an important plant in medicine. The Kashmir Valley (J&K, India) is one of the world's largest and finest saffron producing regions. However, over the past decade, there has been a strong declining trend in saffron production in this area. Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) are free living soil bacteria that have ability to colonize the surfaces of the roots and ability to boost plant growth and development either directly or indirectly. Using the efficient PGPR as a bio-inoculant is another sustainable agricultural practice to improve soil health, grain yield quality, and biodiversity conservation. In the present study, a total of 13 bacterial strains were isolated from rhizospheric soil of saffron during the flowering stage of the tubers and were evaluated for various plant growth promoting characteristics under in vitro conditions such as the solubilization of phosphate, production of indole acetic acid, siderophore, hydrocyanic acid, and ammonia production and antagonism by dual culture test against Sclerotium rolfsii and Fusarium oxysporum. All the isolates were further tested for the production of hydrolytic enzymes such as protease, lipase, amylase, cellulase, and chitinase. The maximum proportions of bacterial isolates were gram-negative bacilli. About 77% of the bacterial isolates showed IAA production, 46% exhibited phosphate solubilization, 46% siderophore, 61% HCN, 100% ammonia production, 69% isolates showed protease activity, 62% lipase, 46% amylase, 85% cellulase, and 39% showed chitinase activity. Three isolates viz., AIS-3, AIS-8 and AIS-10 were found to have the most plant growth properties and effectively control the growth of Sclerotium rolfsii and Fusarium oxysporum. The bacterial isolates were identified as Brevibacterium frigoritolerans (AIS-3), Alcaligenes faecalis subsp. Phenolicus (AIS-8) and Bacillus aryabhattai (AIS-10) respectively by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Therefore, these isolated rhizobacterial strains could be a promising source of plant growth stimulants to increase cormlets growth and increase saffron production.

It is important to analyse the degree of genetic variation existing within the genome to extend the genetic base of linseed/flaxseed accessions in order to preserve, evaluate and use genetic resources accurately and successfully. The main aim of the current investigation was to evaluate the scope and spread of genomic variation across different linseed accessions by employing molecular markers (RAPD). The genomic DNA of 12 linseed accessions was amplified with 16 decamer RAPD primers that generated 81 total bands, among which 75 bands were polymorphic and 6 bands were monomorphic. Polymorphic band numbers varied from least 2 (OPS-11) to highest 10 (OPS-07). The magnitude of polymorphism ranged from 75% to 100% among all accessions with a mean of 93.15 % across all the accessions. The value of Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) varied from 0.133% to 0.708% with a mean of 0.45% for each primer. The maximum PIC value (0.708) was found with the primer OPS-07 and (0.702) with OPM-13. The primer OPS-03 showed the minimum PIC value (0.133). Two main different clusters -I and -II were seen in the cluster analysis depending on RAPD data. Cluster-II comprises one accession (IC 564585) that was the highly varied accession, whereas Cluster-I comprises of some sub clusters with all the remaining accessions. The Jaccard's similarity coefficient varied from 8.2 to 96.3%. The accessions BHU-A and BHU-B had the highest genetic similarity (96.3%), followed by BHU-B and IC 564605 (96.2%). More divergent accessions were discovered to be IC 564585, IC 564616, IC 564631, IC 564622, and IC 564630. The current investigation provides innovative knowledge to breeders on the germplasm of linseed that would be employed in subsequent research to improve linseed genotypes.

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) found in the rhizosphere in association with roots are beneficial bacteria which can heighten the growth of plant directly or indirectly. In the present study 8 bacterial strains were isolated from the root nodules of Cajanus cajan on selective Yeast Extract Mannitol Agar (YEMA) medium (pH 7) at 28°C. All the isolated bacterial strains were subjected to morphological, biochemical characterization; confirmatory tests; screened for multiple plant growth promoting traits and antagonistic activities against Rhizoctonia solani were evaluated using dual culture technique. Under microscopic examination, all the bacterial strains appeared as gram negative rod shaped. On the basis of morphological properties most of the isolates were round, mucilaginous, white with raised elevation and smooth surface indicating rhizobia. All the isolates except ISSA-1 were identified as rhizobia on the basis of confirmatory test. Out of 8 rhizobial isolates, 6 isolates showed amplification with nifH primers indicating the presence of N2 fixing genes in these bacteria. All the eight strains were positive for biochemical tests such as catalase test, oxidase test, nitrate reduction test and urease test. In this study, 63% of the isolates showed IAA production, 38% rhizobial isolates showed phosphate solubilization and 100% for ammonia, 50% for siderophores and 75% isolates showed for HCN production. Out of eight isolates, only 2 isolates exhibited inhibition potential against two soil borne plant phytopathogen viz., Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotium rolfsii under in vitro conditions.

In the present study, a total of 7 actinomycetes isolates were isolated from the rhizospheric soil of capsicum annuum collected from various agricultural sites of Nizamabad Telangana India and were characterized for morphological, biochemical and plant growth promoting ability. All the isolates showed well-marked growth on starch casein agar medium at pH 7.0 after incubation for 120 h at 37°C producing pinpoint to medium sized, slow growing, irregular to regular, flat to raised colonies possessing an earthy odour characteristic of actinomycetes. The microscopic studies showed that most of the isolates were Gram positive and they had filamentous, branched and coenocytic mycelia. Most of the isolates produced plant growth-promoting traits including indole acetic acid, hydrocyanic acid, phosphate solubilization, ammonia, siderophore, protease and cellulase production. Out of 7 bacterial isolates, 4 isolates showed IAA production, 6 of them showed side rophore production, 5 isolates showed HCN production, 6 isolates showed ammonia production, 2 isolates showed good P solubilization and 4 isolates showed protease and cellulase activity. It was concluded from the results that isolate NM-1 and NM-2 showed most of the plant growth promoting traits and hence, these isolates may have potential for useful development of potential inoculants/biofertilizers for increasing the growth and productivity of Capsicum annuum.