Termitarium-Inhabiting Bacillus spp. Enhanced Plant Growth and Bioactive Component in Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) Ankit Kumar Chauhan 1 • Dinesh Kumar Maheshwari 1 • Shrivardhan Dheeman 1 • Vivek K. Bajpai 2 Received: 19 July 2016 / Accepted: 25 November 2016 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract Curcumin (diferuloyl methane) is the main bioactive component of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) having remarkable multipotent medicinal and therapeutic applications. Two Bacilli isolated from termitarium soil and identified as Bacillus endophyticus TSH42 and Bacil- lus cereus TSH77 were used for bacterization of rhizome for raising C. longa ver. suguna for growth and enhance- ment. Both the strains showed remarkable PGP activities and also chemotactic in nature with high chemotactic index. Turmeric plants bacterized with strains B. endo- phyticus TSH42 and B. cereus TSH77 individually and in combination increased plant growth and turmeric produc- tion up to 18% in field trial in comparison to non-bacter- ized plants. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis was performed to determine the content of cur- cumin, which showed concentration of curcumin in un- inoculated turmeric as 3.66 g which increased by 13.6% (4.16 g) when combination of TSH42 and TSH77 was used. Introduction Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) also known as ‘‘Haridra’’ in Sanskrit is a perennial medicinal plant that belongs to the family Zingiberaceae and mainly cultivated in South-East Asia [1]. India is the largest producer of turmeric in the world as 80% of turmeric is produced in the country and it also contributes in the national economy [2]. It is widely used as spice, coloring agent, and in the traditional medicines since ancient times in India. It is used in the Ayurvedic, Siddha, and Unani medicines for the treatment of cough, wound heal, circulatory, liver, and dermatologi- cal diseases [3]. Turmeric rhizomes contain mixture of three compounds curcumin, desmethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin collectively known as curcumi- noids. Curcumin is the main bioactive component in tur- meric with a broad spectrum of medicinal and health- promoting properties i.e., antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, anti-diabetic, anti-allergic, anticoagulant, and anti-infertility activities [4]. In the soil ecosystem, turmeric rhizome interacts with microbial population of its rhizosphere. Majority of plants produce root exudates and also generate signals to draw microbial population’s attention [5]. Rhizospheric bacteria play important role in plant growth responses and promo- tion of heath and productivity [6, 7]. In this study, we have tried to explore novel resource of beneficial bacteria from more nutritionally rich soil than normal soil i.e., termitar- ium soil. The termitarium or termite mound build nest is made of partially digested food and excrement of termites. Termites are known as ecological engineers [8]. Mound building termites belong to the order Isoptera and are widely spread in tropics and sub-tropics. They redistribute the soil particles, alter mineral and organic content of soils, & Dinesh Kumar Maheshwari maheshwaridk@gmail.com & Vivek K. Bajpai vbajpai04@yahoo.com 1 Department of Botany and Microbiology, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, Uttrakhand 249-404, India 2 Department of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 712-749, Republic of Korea 123 Curr Microbiol DOI 10.1007/s00284-016-1172-z