ABR Vol 11 [4] July 2020 89 | P age © 2020 Society of Education, India Advances in Bioresearch Adv. Biores., Vol 11 (4) July 2020: 89-92 ©2020 Society of Education, India Print ISSN 0976-4585; Online ISSN 2277-1573 Journal’s URL:http://www.soeagra.com/abr.html CODEN: ABRDC3 DOI: 10.15515/abr.0976-4585.11.4.8992 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Retention of Water and Stomatal Conductance in Sorghum Plant as Influenced by Bacterial Species Under Drought Condition Kalindee S. Shinde and S.G. Borkar Department of Plant Pathology And Agricultural Microbiology Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-413722, Maharashtra, India. Email: kalindeeshinde@gmail.com ABSTRACT The relative water content (RWC) and stomatal conductance (SC) in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, L.) leaves were assessed under water stress condition by sorghum seed priming with Serratia marcescens strain L1SC8, Pseudomonas putida strain L3SC1, Enterobacter cloacae strain L1CcC1and Serratia marcescens strain L2FmA4.RWC was higher in leaves of seed priming plants. Water stress resulted in decreased RWC of plant leaves. Seed priming withSerratia marcescens strain L1SC8 showed higher RWC over untreated control followed by Enterobacter cloacae strain L1CcC1. However SC decreased in seed primed stressed plants leaves compared to non-primedstressed plant leaves. Pseudomonas putida strain L3SC1 showed lowest SC as compared to other treatments and control. Thus seed priming with moisture stress tolerant bacterial cultures increase the RWC while decrease the SC which was the major attributing factors for drought tolerance in sorghum. Keywards : relative water content, stomatal conductance, sorghum, Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas putida, Enterobacter cloacae , moisture stress, drought Received 02.04.2020 Revised 02.06.2020 Accepted 01.07.2020 How to cite this article: Kalindee S. Shinde and S.G. Borkar. Retention of Water and Stomatal Conductance in Sorghum Plant as Influenced by Bacterial Species Under Drought Condition. Adv. Biores., Vol 11 (4) July 2020: 89-92 INTRODUCTION Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that adversely affects majority of the world’s crop growth and productivity. Drought stress is common in many parts of the world and more than 50% of the globe is arid or semi-arid or is subjected to some kind of drought stress. Plant response to drought stress, at cellular and molecular level, limits plant growth and yield [12]. The adaptation mechanism of plant drought tolerance may involve promotion of root extension, allowing an efficient water uptake [9, 13]. Leaf relative water content (RWC) is an important indicator of water status in plants; it reflects the balance between water supply to the leaf tissue and transpiration rate [8]. Appropriate relative water content (RWC) in plant is probably the most important component to maintain the physiological and cellular activities in plant in normal as well as drought condition. Similarly stomatal conductance is also important which determines the rate of passage of carbon dioxide (CO2) entering, or water vapor exiting through the stomata of a leaf. Less stomatal conductance indicates increasing water use efficiency as consequence of the relative improvement in intracellular CO2 and partial stomatal closure.Numerous microorganisms are associated with rhizosphere of plants. Some of these have positive effects on plants. Certain bacteria survive under water stress conditions which help plants to sustain in water stress conditions by inducing some physiological changes in plant system. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of the moisture stress tolerant bacteria Serratia marcescens strain L1SC8, Pseudomonas putida strain L3SC1, Enterobacter cloacae strain L1CcC1and Serratia marcescens strain L2FmA4 on the relative water content and stomatal conductance of sorghum leaves under drought stress condition where the parameter RWC and SC render the plants more tolerant to drought stress. Advances in Bioresearch