Biochemical and molecular characterization of few endophytes isolated from cotton

Abstract

The endophytic bacteria reside in plant tissues have often been known to promote plant growth. Endophyticbacteria were isolated from seeds and roots of cotton. A total of 35 bacterial endophytes from Bt cotton (12 from seed,7 from root) and non-Bt cotton (5 from seed, 11 from root) were obtained from apparently healthy cotton plant samples.Morphological, biochemical and molecular identification were done to identify the bacteria isolated. Morphological charactersof bacterial endophytes on nutrient agar medium varied with respect to colony colour, appearance (form). Colony colourvaried from creamish white to bright yellow colour, colony form varied from regular to irregular. Among the 35 bacterialendophytes five endophytes (BRR-1, BRS-2, JAS-3, BRS-5 and AJS-1) were further tested for biochemical and molecularstudies. Biochemical tests revealed that, the isolate BRS-5 showed positive reaction to methyl red, oxidase, starch, caseinhydrolysis and gelatin liquefaction and isolate Jas-3 showed negative reaction to all tests conducted . Based on 16S rRNAthe five endophytes were identified as Streptomyces sampsonii (BRR-1), Pantoeadispersa (BRS-2),Pseudoclavibacterhelvolus (JAS-3), Bacillus cereus (BRS-5) and Bacilluspumilis (AJS-1)