THE ANNALS OF “VALAHIA” UNIVERSITY OF TARGOVISTE 2011 PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING ACTIVITY OF BACILLUS SPP. ON TURMERIC A. Karnwal* and M. Guleria Bhojia Institute of Life Sciences, Bhud, Teh. Baddi, Distt. Solan, H.P., 173205, India E-mail: Arunkarnwal@gmail.com Abstract In order to study the effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on the growth and yield of turmeric, an experiment was conducted at Bhojia Institute of Life Sciences, India. Total five isolates, out of 50, belongs to Bacillus spp. (PGPR) designated as S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 were successfully isolated and characterized on the basis of morphological and various biochemical methods. Subsequently, a pot experiment was conducted where turmeric plants are grown in sterilized and non- sterilized soil and mixed with isolates of PGPR to investigate the effect of bacterial isolates on the growth of experimental plant. The applications of bacterial strains increased the shoot length, leaf number, root length and root dry weight. Therefore, present study suggests that PGPR isolates viz. S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5 may be used as biofertilizers to enhance the growth and productivity of turmeric. Results of study showed seed Inoculation significantly enhanced seed germination and seedling vigour of turmeric. In pot experiment, shoot length and also root length and root dry weight significantly were increased by bacterial inoculation in both sterile and non-sterile soil. The results showed that inoculation with bacterial treatments had a more stimulating effect on growth and development of plants in non-sterile than sterile soil. Keywords: Pot Experiment, PGPR, Rhizobacteria, Biofertilizer 1. INTRODUCTION Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the Ginger family Zingiberaceae. In Ayurvedic practices, turmeric is thought to have many medicinal and antibacterial properties with antiseptic effect for cuts, burns and bruises. It is also used for curing the problems of digestion, Liver Diseases, Cancer, Eye Disorder, Osteoarthritis, Atherosclerosis and Anemia. Thurmeric is also used in cosmetics for glow to the skin, make the skin fair, soft and smooth and spots caused due to pigmentation. Turmeric contains up to 5% essential oils and up to 3% curcumin, a polyphenol. Curcumin is also used as pH indicator. It shows yellow color below pH 7.4 and bright red above pH 8.6. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric in the world. The global production of turmeric is around 11 lakh tonnes annually. India dominates the world production scenario contributing 78 % followed by China (8%), Myanmar (4%) and Nigeria and Bangala Desh together contributing to 6% of the global production. Preparation of live microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) utilized for improving plant growth and crop productivity are referred to as biofertilizers or microbial inoculants [2, 18]. Biofertilizer is defined as a substance which, when applied to seed or plant surface or soil, promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrient to the host plant [20, 10, 11, 16, 8, 9]. Research in biofertilizers has resulted in the development of three kinds of microbial inoculants or biofertilizers including nitrogen fixing bacteria, phosphate solubilizing microorganisms, vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Ninety five percent of Gram- positive soil bacilli belong to the genus Bacillus. The remaining 5% are confirmed to be Arthrobacter and Frankia [4, 19]. 2. MATERIAL AND METHODS Collection of soil sample and Isolation of Bacterial spp. Soil sample was collected from the rhizospheric region (garden soil) of Bhojia Institute of Life Sciences, Budh, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. Serial dilution agar plate technique was adopted for the isolation of Bacillus sp. and all isolates were biochemically characterized by Gram Staining, Indole production, Nitrate Reduction, Ammonia production, Phosphate solublization, HCN Production, Catalase Test, Endospore Staining, Motility Test, Meta-chromatic granule, Nitrate Reduction, starch hydrolysis, H2S production, citrate utilization, oxidation reaction, casein hydrolysis, 3-ketolactose production, urease production, lipolysis activity and gelatin liquefaction as described in Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology [7]. Antibacterial activity of Turmeric on isolated strains To check the antibacterial activity of turmeric on isolated bacterial strains, Nutrient agar plates were used supplemented with turmeric powder. With the sterilized loop, selected bacterial isolates were streaked on the plates and incubate at 30 0 C for 24 hours. PGPR activity of isolates on turmeric Earthen pots were used for conducting the pot experiments. These pots were filled with loam soil and sterilized to get control condition for conducting the experiment. Rhizomes of turmeric were surface sterilized in 1% HgCl 2 for 2 minutes and then, wash the rhizomes with sterilized distilled water at least 10 times to remove traces of toxic HgCl 2 . These surface sterilized rhizomes were air dried in laminar air flow and then sown into sterilized pots (Four rhizomes per pot). 34