Morphological and Biochemical Characterization of Rhizobia Isolated from Root Nodule of Crotolaria junceae L. Grown in Assam

In the present study 14 bacterial strains were isolated from root nodule of Crotolaria junceae L. from 4 different sites of Assam. The isolates were investigated for their morphological characteristics. Three different confirmatory tests were performed with the isolates. The isolates were also investigated for their biochemical characteristics and compared with biochemical characteristics of reference strains Rhizobium leguminoserum MTCC-99, Bradyrhizobium japonicum MTCC-120 and Mesorhizobium thiogangeticum MTCC-7001 obtained from IMTECH, Chandigarh. The isolates showed close similarity in their morphological features but showed variation in confirmatory test results. The study revealed that most of the isolates are closely related to Rhizobium leguminoserum MTCC-99 and Mesorhizobium thiogangeticum MTCC-7001 based on their morphological and biochemical characteristic.