Multitrait plant growth promoting (PGP) rhizobacterial isolates from Brassica juncea rhizosphere : Keratin degradation and growth promotion

Plant growth promoting (PGP) rhizobacteria, a beneficial microbe colonizing plant roots, enhanced crop productivity and offers an attractive way to replace chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and supplements. The keratinous waste which comprises feathers, hairs, nails, skin and wool creates problem of solid waste management due to presence of highly recalcitrant keratin. The multi traits rhizobacteria effective to remove both keratine from the environment by producing keratinase enzyme and to eradicate the chemical fertilizer by providing different PGP activity is novel achievement. In the present study, the effective PM(2) strain of PGPR was isolated from rhizospheric soil of mustard (Brassica juncea) field, Pantnagar and they were identified on the basis of different biochemical tests as belonging to Bacillus genera. Different plant growth promoting activity, feather degradation and keratinolytic activity was performed and found very effective toward all the parameters. Furthermore, the efficient strain PM(2) was identified on the basis of 16s rRNA sequencing and confirmed as Bacillus cereus. The strain PM(2) might be used efficiently for keratinous waste management and PGP activity. Therefore, the present study suggests that Bacillus cereus have multi traits activity which extremely useful for different PGP activity and biotechnological process involving keratin hydrolysis, feather biodegradation or in the leather industry.