Influence of Azotobacter strain Azt-7 on growth and development of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) seedlings under drought stress
2017
Mounika, N. | Ali, Sk.Z. | Sandhya, V. | Muralidhara Rao, D. | Uma, A.
The present research was designed to study the effect of Azotobacter strain Azt-7 inoculation on growth and development of okra (ladies finger) seedlings under drought stress. A total of 29 Azotobacter spp. were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of different crop production systems grown under arid and semi-arid regions in India. Among 29 strains, Azt-7 isolated from cotton rhizosphere exhibited plant growth promoting traits (PGP) such as indole acetic acid (IAA), ammonia production, phosphate solubilisation and tolerance to drought stress. The strain was identified as Azotobacter chroococcum by 16S rRNA sequence analysis and the gene sequence was submitted to GenBank under the accession number KT374218.1. Strain Azt-7 was evaluated for growth promotion of okra seedlings under non-stress and drought stress condition. Seeds inoculated with Azt-7 showed better growth in terms of the shoot, root length and dry biomass under both non-stress and drought stress conditions whereas, uninoculated plants showed stunted growth, rolling and wilting of leaves under drought stress. Furthermore, inoculation also improved the accumulation of soluble sugars, free amino acids, proline, chlorophyll, and protein content under non-stress and drought stress conditions. The present study suggests the possible role of microorganisms in mitigating adverse effects of climate changes on crop growth and may lead to the development of microbial products to mitigate such effects.
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