Manoeuvring Prospective Rhizosphere-Competent Bacteria for Invigorating Growth in Chickpea

The exploration for beneficial rhizosphere-competent bacteria commenced with screening isolated strains for plant growth-promoting attributes, including secretion of indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellins, 1-aminocyclopropane- 1-carboxylic acid deaminase, solubilization of phosphate and zinc. The secretion of flavonoid-like compounds revealed quantitative as well qualitative variability among the isolates as their culture supernatant exhibited several fluorescent compounds on TLC plates with different mobilities. Inoculation of seeds with effective isolates under axenic condition enhanced plant growth and induced flavanoids secretion from ischolar_mains, although the effect was only quantitative. The prospective bioinoculants exhibited competence in lieu of intrinsic antibiotic resistance, amylase production, biofilm formation, ischolar_main infectivity, salinity tolerance and exopolysaccharide production. Seed bacterization with potential isolates alone and in consortium with rhizobia stimulated growth of chickpea plants under controlled condition.