Study on Plant Growth Promoting Activities of Azotobacter Isolates for Sustainable Agriculture in Myanmar Ei Phyu Kyaw*, Myo Min Soe, San San Yu, Zaw Ko Latt and Tin Mar Lynn Department of Biotechnology Research, Myanmar Abstract Plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) enhance the plant growth and productivity through wide variety of mechanism. In this paper, a total of 6 isolates belonging to Azotobacter spp. were isolated from different rhizosphere soils collected from Kyaukse Township, Mandalay Region. The isolated bacterial cultures were characterized morphologically, culturally and biochemically and then they were identified as Azotobacter. They were screened for their plant growth promoting traits. Results revealed that isolated strains are capable of fixing nitrogen, solubilizing phosphorus and synthesizing indole compounds. It was concluded that among the isolates, “U” is the best isolate for all these activities. The results of the pres- ent experiments can be utilized in biofertilizer production to provide sustainability to the agricultural productivity. Introduction Myanmar is an agricultural country and out of 67.6 million hectares of land in Myanmar, 12.8 million hectares are cultivated land. When measured by value of production, rice is the dominant commodity, accounting for 43% of production value. Agriculture is the backbone of the Myanmar economy: The sector accounts for about 30% of GDP, over 50% of total employment and approximately 20% of exports [1]. Economy of our country is greatly dependable on agriculture. The more the agriculture develops, the higher the standards of our country. Therefore, the demand for fertilizer is very high. Sustainable agricultural production requires new approaches to reduce the applications of polluting agrochemicals [2]. One potential solution to overcome this major challenge is the study of the biological processes involving plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR/PGPB) and their interaction with plants [3]. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are soil borne bacteria, which enhance the plant growth directly or indirectly. PGPR can exhibit a variety of characteristics responsible for influencing plant growth [4]. Among the different bacterial genera that have been reported as PGPR (Azospirillum, Agrobacterium, Rhizobium, Enterobacter, Beijerinckia, Klebsiella, Xanthomonas, Phyllobacterium) [5], Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Azotobacter are the most widely reported [6-9]. Several lines of evidence suggesting direct mechanisms of PGPR/PGPB involved in plant growth promotion are the following A. Production of ACC deaminase, which reduces the level of ethylene in crop roots thus enhancing root length and density. B. Symbiotic and associative nitrogen fixation, which increases the availability of soluble nitrogen in soil. C. Nutrient solubilization and mineralization (e.g. P, K, Zn and Si), which increases the availability of those elements for plant uptake. D. Synthesis of phytohormones such as indoles, gibberellins, abscisic acid and cytokinin’s which modulate plant growth and division. E. Ability to produce siderophores, hydrolytic enzymes and antibiotics, which renders the cells more competitive over niche colonization. Crimson Publishers Wings to the Research Research Article *Corresponding author: Department of Biotechnology Research, Myanmar Submission: April 04, 2019 Published: April 23, 2019 Volume 1 - Issue 5 How to cite this article: Phyu K, Myo M, San S, Zaw K, Lynn T. Study on Plant Growth Promoting Activities of Azotobacter Isolates for Sustainable Agriculture in Myanmar. J Biotech Biores.1(5). JBB.000524.2019. Copyright@ Phyu K, This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. 1 Journal of Biotechnology & Bioresearch