PJB-2023-280
Impact of Altitudinal Variation on The Phytohormone Production by Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Isolated from Rhizospheric Soil of Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) &a
Amtul Mateen
Abstract
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is extensively grown as a subsistence crop along with barley in the hilly areas of Pakistan. It can be grown on nutritionally poor soil and is a crop of immense medicinal value. The present investigation was aimed to isolate plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) from the rhizosphere of buckwheat collected from two different altitudes of Baltistan i.e. high altitude of Khaplu (HAK) (3200m above sea level) and low altitude of Skardu (LAS) (2400m above sea level). The PGPR bacterial strains were identified and differentiated based on colony morphology, gram test, Carbon: Nitrogen source utilization pattern, and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analyses. The isolates of PGPR of two different altitudes were divided into two groups based on their physiological, biochemical, and molecular characteristics. The PGPR isolates were evaluated for their efficiency of phytohormone production and phosphorus solubilization. Results of the rhizospheric soil samples showed that buckwheat collected from HAK exhibited higher contents of P, Mg, Mn and values of EC, pH as compared to that from LAS. GA and IAA production were significantly higher as compared to ABA in both isolates of PGPR. Current study results indicated that the PGPR isolate from the rhizosphere of HAK produced a significantly greater amount of IAA, GA, and ABA as compared to LAS. Higher colony counts and better solubilization index for P were exhibited by PGPR isolated from that of HAK as compared to that of LAS. The highest similarity coefficient (0.975) was computed between two PGPR strains RH and RL. The lowest similarity coefficient was determined between RL and PSL indicating that RL and PSL belong to 2 different groups.
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