Effect of Facultataive Methylotrphs on Tissue Culturing of Rice

The effect of facultative methylotrophs (FMs) on tissue culturing of rice cultivar Co43 was studied under in vitro conditions. Facultative methylotrophic isolates obtained from calli tissues of various tropical plants were screened based on growth hormone production and their effect on seedling vigour of rice cultivar Co43. Efficient isolates viz., PPFMs-LE1, PPFMs-OS, PPFMs-Co47, PPFMs-Vu, PPFMs-OS and NPFMs-OS along with standard strain Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 were inoculated by following various methods. Upon inoculation, the calli tissues were found to be well colonized by facultative methylotrophs and this led to proliferation of calli tissues and increased the regenerating ability of calli tissues. Chlorophyll and soluble protein content were also found to be increased significantly over the uninoculated control.