Isolation and Characterization of Multifarious Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria Enterobacter ludwigii PGP 19 Isolated from Pearl Millet

A multifarious plant growth promoting bacteria designated as PGP-19 was isolated from rhizosphere of Pennisetum glacum. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing isolate was identified as Enterobacter ludwigii. Isolated strain exhibited various plant growth promoting characteristic features like ACC deaminase production, Indole acetic acid (IAA) production, solubilization the inorganic phosphate etc. Strain PGP-19 could also tolerate a wide rangs of pH, salt (NaCl) and temperature stress conditions. In addition Enterobacter ludwigii PGP-19 also exhibited nitrogen fixation potential, HCN production, chitinase activity and sensitivity towards antibiotics. Production and HCN and chitinase activity illustrated the biocontrol ability of strain. A significant increased in various growth parameters of plant such as shoot length, root length, fresh weight and dry weight was observed following inoculation of isolate PGP-19 in in-vitro pot study. The study indicated the potential of isolate PGP-19 for development of bacterial inoculum production and used as a biofertilizers for enhancing growth of pearl millet and other major crops.