~ 2515 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2021; 9(1): 2515-2520 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2021; 9(1): 2515-2520 © 2021 IJCS Received: 09-10-2020 Accepted: 23-12-2020 Suma C Kammar Department of Agriculture Microbiology, UAS, Raichur, Karnataka, India Mahadeva Swamy Department of Agriculture Microbiology, UAS, Raichur, Karnataka, India Ravindra C Gundappagol Department of Agriculture Microbiology, UAS, Raichur, Karnataka, India Nagaraj M Naik Department of Agriculture Microbiology, UAS, Raichur, Karnataka, India BK Desai Department of Agronomy, UAS, Raichur, Karnataka, India Amaresh YS Department of Plant Pathology, UAS, Raichur, Karnataka, India Corresponding Author: Suma C Kammar Department of Agriculture Microbiology, UAS, Raichur, Karnataka, India Isolation of endophytic bacteria and its effect on growth parameters of chilli ( Capsicum annum ) Suma C Kammar, Mahadeva Swamy, Ravindra C Gundappagol, Nagaraj M Naik, BK Desai and Amaresh YS DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2021.v9.i1ai.11608 Abstract The present investigation was carried out in the glass house of Department of Agricultural Microbiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur during 2019 to study the effect of endophytic isolates on growth parameters of chilli. The treatment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with eighteen treatments and three replications. Results indicated that the consortium of endophytic bacteria (ESK-26 + ESR-6) had performed well in pot trial and significantly enhanced growth parameter as compare to control. Significantly highest plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, root length, shoot dry weight, root dry weight and total dry weight were recorded by the treatment T8 (ESK-26 + ESR-6) at 30, 60 and 90 DAS. Keywords: Endophytic bacteria, chilli Introduction Low cost, eco-friendly and sustainable means of achieving agricultural intensification and improving productivity is by adopting the use of microbial inoculants to enhance the availability and use of vital soil nutrients (Jambon et al., 2018) [6] . Microbes with tremendous capacities of PGPR, biocontrol and abiotic stress alleviation are being explored in rhizosphere, endosphere, phyllosphere and unique ecological niches (Abbamondi et al., 2016) [1] . Endophytes have proven potential to be used in agriculture. The term “endophyte” is derived from the Greek words “endon” meaning within, and “phyton” meaning plant. Endophytic microbes, residing in plant play a powerful role in exerting their beneficial attributes with a higher consistency, particularly they dwell in a relatively secure environment, largely protected from the externally induced abiotic or biotic stresses (Shatrupa et al., 2018) [11] . Plants constitute vast and diverse niches for endophytic organisms. Nearly 300000 plant species that exist on the earth, each individual plant is host to one or more endophytes (Strobel et al., 1993) [13] . Endophytes need to initially enter the plant endosphere, adapt new environment and are able to penetrate and become systematically disseminated in the host plant. Actively colonizing the apoplast, conducting vessels and occasionally the intracellular spaces (Hallmann et al., 1997) [5] . Root endophytes often colonize and penetrate the epidermis at sites of lateral root emergence, root hair zone and root cracks and residing within apoplastic space between plant cells (Schulz and Boyle, 2006) [10] . Cellulase and protease act as key enzymes for the invasion and colonization of plant roots (Susilowatim et al., 2015) [15] . Endophytic bacteria have been isolated from a large diversity of plants. Organisms like Bacillus, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Pantoea, Agrobacterium, Methylobacterium spp. Constitute the endophytes commonly isolated from diverse plants such as rice, wheat, maize, cotton, clover, potato, sugarcane, tomato, cucumber, and wild grasses (Bacon and Hinton, 2006) [3] . The precise role of endophytes in plants is not yet known. However, their capability to thrive within the host tissues away from microbial competition and environmental degradation has made endophytes potential candidates for use in agriculture. In Karnataka, Chilli (Capsicum annum L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) are two major transplanted crops, which belong to the family solanaceae which has 90 genera and 2000 species.