Isolation, screening, and molecular characterization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria isolates of Azotobacter and Trichoderma and their beneficial activities

OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted for isolation, screening, and identification of Azotobacter and Trichoderma from different soil samples. METHODS: A total of 10 isolates of Azotobacter and Trichoderma were isolated from rhizospheric soils. The test isolates were biochemically characterized and screened in in-vitro conditions for their plant growth promoting properties. DNA polymorphism of isolates was studied using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis. RESULTS: A total of 41 bands were scored, out of which 35 bands were found to be 85.59% polymorphic in Azotobacter and in Trichoderma among total 37 bands scored of which 29 were found to be 78.37% polymorphic. The influence of isolated plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains on plant growth was studied using different parameters such as height of the plant, number of leaves, and number of branches, and bio-control activity was studied. CONCLUSION: The present results concluded that the multiple beneficial activities of PGPR traits increase the plant growth and bio-control activity.