AGRICULTURAL MICROBIOLOGY

A total of 46 endophytic fungi were isolated from 270 segments of leaf and stem tissues of Prosopis juliflora and P. cineraria that were naturally found in semi-arid habitat of Vijayapur and Bagalkot districts of Karnataka (India). Twenty six endophytic fungi were obtained from stem, while twenty were obtained from leaf. The diversity and species richness were found higher in stem tissues than in leaf. The average colonization frequency of P. juliflora was 27.69 per cent, while P. cineraria recorded average colonization frequency of 36.42 per cent. Eleven samples from P. juliflora and sixteen samples from P. cineraria did not yield any endophyte irrespective of the tissue material used. The endophytes belonging to genera Aspergillus, Alternaria, Fusarium, Penicillium and Colletotrichum were recovered. Aspergillus sp. had the highest colonization frequency of 28.26 per cent followed by Alternaria sp. and Colletotrichum sp. with each of them showing 8.69 per cent colonization frequency. Fungal endophytes PJB-1 and PJV-6 were found to be positive for siderophore activity.

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of water deficit stress on the germination and seedling growth of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. Four sorghum genotypes (CSV29-R, M35-1, BJV-44 and Phule Vasudha) were evaluated under six water stress treatments (0,-2,-4,-6,-8 and-10 bars) using Polyethylene glycol (PEG 8000) as an osmoticum. The mean germination percentage significantly decreased with the increasing water stress across all genotypes. Among the genotypes, CSV29-R recorded highest germination percentage and M35-1 recorded highest seedling length (shoot and root length combined) indicating better adaptability to water stress condition.

Coconut water is one of the versatile and organically rich natural products in the coconut growing countries. This refreshing beverage is gain importance and increasing scientific evidence that supports the role of coconut water in health and medicinal applications. Coconut water is traditionally used as a growth supplement in plant tissue culture/micropropagation. The wide applications of coconut water
can be justified by its unique chemical composition of sugars, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and phytohormones. The attempts made to evaluate the chemical composition of coconut water obtained from desiccated industries. Here, eight to nine months broken coconuts were used in the processing of DC powders, the coconut water as a waste product and left as it is into ponds or lakes. This organically rich coconut water was collected at two different stage – one is at
breaking point (purely coconut water), second is at end point of processing (residual coconut milk = coconut water + water) and conducted a bioassay test viz., cucumber cotyledon expansion test (cytokinin) and wheat coleoptiles test (auxin) for growth promoting substance and also major and micro nutrients were studied.
The result showed that the fresh weight and cotyledon expansion area of cucumber were recorded highest in concentrated coconut milk (0.663 g) and (1.83 cm2) as compare to control (0.305 g) and (0.90 cm2). The highest coleoptiles length was recorded (11.63 cm) in 1:7 dilution (coconut water: water) as compare to residual coconut milk (9.93 cm) and control (4.87 cm). The mineral concentration of
coconut water and residual coconut milk lies between N (0.63 and 0.73 %), P (0.36 and 0.23 %), K (2.36 and 2.56 %), Ca (1.64 and 1.20 %), Na (0.48 and 0.41 %) and micronutrients viz., Fe (93.2 and 91.6 ppm), Cu (17.4 and 17.8 ppm) Zn (20.6 and 22.6 ppm) and Mn (84.0 and 76.2 ppm) were recorded respectively.

Drought is the most destructive stress among abiotic stresses that increased in intensity over the past decades affecting world's food security. Drought stress may range from moderate and short to extremely severe and prolonged duration, restricting the crop yields. In recent times, the use of rhizobacteria for alleviation of drought stress in plants has gained momentum. In this study desiccation tolerant rhizobacterial isolates were subjected to quanitative analysis of phosphate solubilizing abilities of the desiccation tolerant rhizobacterial isolates results revealed that isolate KOP-2 CHI-4, and GAD1-1(1.42, 1.27 and 0.84 µg/ml) were able to solubilize higher phosphorous under stress condition. Similarly, under non-stress condition, isolate KOP-2, CHI-4, and GAD-1 (2.47, 2.07 and 1.69 µg/ml) were able to solubilize higher phosphorous compare to other isolates. The nine desiccation tolerant rhizobacterial isolates were examined for the production of IAA, GA3 and ABA with and without tryptophan under stress and non-stress condition. Among the isolates KOP-2, GAD-1 and CHI-4 showed maximum IAA, GA3 and ABA production under stress and non-stress condition.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are naturally occurring soil bacteria that aggressively colonize plant roots and benefit plants. They are a heterogeneous group of bacteria that can be found in the rhizosphere, on rhizoplane and in association with roots, enhancing the growth of the plant either directly and/or indirectly (Glick, 1995) through effective mobilization of major plant nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potash and other minor nutrients needed by the crop. These beneficial microorganisms are also known to secret plant growth promoting substance like IAA, GA, cytokinines and vitamins for the improvement of crop growth, yields and for quality produce. They not only

Drawbacks of intensive farming practices, environmental hazards and costs of chemical fertilizers have renewed interest in bio-inoculants. Microorganisms playing an important role in improving the plant growth and yield are generally referred as beneficial microbes or plant growth promoting rhizomicroorganisms (PGPR). The investigation was carried out in green house at Department of Agricultural Microbiology, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru during 2016-17 in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications and nine treatments. The observations were taken at 30, 60, 90 days after transplanting and at harvest. The treatment received 75% N & P + 100% K + Azotobacter isolate (PGPR24) @ 2kg/ha + Bacillus isolate (PGPR-9) @ 2kg/ha recorded significantly highest plant height (41.74 cm), number of branches (8.33/plant), number of leaves (136.33/plant), plant spread (798.27 cm2), number of suckers (11.67), total dry weight (88.50g/plant) accumulation; yield attributes such as number of flow...

Raising vegetable seedlings in pro trays is becoming an innovative approach to producing quality seedlings in horticulture. The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) Glomus bagyarajii and potassium (K) solubilizing bacterium Frateuria aurantia singly and together in enhancing the growth of capsicum seedlings raised in pro trays under polyhouse conditions. Different growth parameters such as shoot and root length, total seedling length, stem diameter, dry weight of seedlings, biovolume index, plant strength, vigour index, macro and micronutrient uptake, mycorrhizal root colonization, and the population of F. aurantia in the root zone soil were monitored. Significantly higher shoot length, root length, stem diameter, and biovolume index were recorded in the treatments inoculated with G. bagyarajii alone, followed by F. aurantia alone. Most of the plant growth parameters were significantly less in the dual inoculated treatment...

Aim: The study was conducted to understand the Effect of processing and fermentation on functional properties and on anti-nutritional factors in Horse Gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum). Place and Duration of Work: The study was carried out in Department of Agricultural Microbiology, GKVK, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore during 2019-20. Methodology: Horse gram seeds were procured from National seed project, thoroughly cleaned and were subjected to different processing methods (soaking, roasting, cooking and germination) and ground into flour. Then, the processed flours were analyzed for altered functional properties like bulk density, water and oil absorption capacity, foaming capacity and stability etc. The raw seeds were directly milled into flour without any processing and used as control. Further, all processed flours were subjected to fermentation and compared with non fermented flours for reduction of antinutritional factors (tannins and phytates). Results: The functi...

In the present study, the combination of biocontrol agents along with PGPRs like P solubilizers and N 2 fixers as soil application is more effective in improving crop growth and yield parameters as compared to uninoculated plants. The result obtained were clearly revealed that the combined application of Trichoderma viride, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus megaterium and Azotobacter chroococcum were significantly increased plant height, number of leaves, number of branches, number of fruits per plant, fresh fruit yield per plot of okra and significantly reduced the root rot incidence in the plots where the above said biocontrol agents and PGPRs treated.

Experiment was conducted to study the biodiversity of entomopathogenic fungi present in the ten agro climatic zones of Karnataka. A systemic survey was made to isolate entomopathogenic fungi and to study murda complex incidence in the chilli growing areas on different agro climatic zones of Karnataka. Maximum fungal biodiversity was observed in Southern transitional zone and least was observed in North East transitional zone and North Eastern dry zone. The 13 fungal isolates were isolated from the soil samples collected during the survey. Most common genera isolated from all zones includes Penicillium, Aspergillus, Acremonium, Fusarium, Mucor, Paecilomyces, Talaromyces, Trichoderma and Cladosporium macrocarpus. In this isolates two of them were recognized as entomopathogens namely Metarrhizium anisopliae, Verticillium lecanii and rest others Neozygites floridiana and Nomuraea rileyi were antagonistic saprophytes. No other fungus belonging to commonly known entomopathogenic groups was noticed. Among the groups, the two fungi, Fusarium isolate and Aspergillus sp. were in equal proportion, four Fusarium isolates, four Aspergillus isolates and single isolates of each Verticillium lecanii, Metarhizium anisopliae, Neozygites floridiana, Penicillium and Nomuraea rileyi was found. Among 13 isolates Verticillium lecanii, Metarhizium anisopliae and Fusarium isolate was tested on the sucking pests like thrips and mites. In the in vitro condition Fusarium isolate caused 86.6 per cent mortality, N. floridana 80 %, M. anisopliae 13.3 % mortality and V. lecanii 3.33% mortality on S. dorsalis. The results obtained revealed that the biodiversity of entomopathogenic fungi is more in the soils having high organic matter and rich in fertility status.

Azosprillum spp. were isolated from the endorhizosphere of 27 wheat genotypes and 32 Azospirillum strains were obtained. Among these six were Azospirillum lipoferum, 13 were Azosprillum brasilense and 13 isolates could not be grouped into either of the two categories. And all the isolates were subjected to various biochemical characterization. All the isolates were tested for siderophore production by growing them on M-9 medium. Out of 32 isolates, 18 strains showed good growth on the medium, where as five others showed moderate growth and rest others totally failed to grow on the medium. The variations in the isolates might be due to the genetic variations in the plant genotypes and their properties.

A systematic study was conducted to know the influence of Hypsozygus ulmarius spent mushroom substrate on cowpea growth parameters, the city waste used as growth substrates for Mushroom were used to know its influence on the growth of Cowpea. Experiment was set up with eight treatments and with three replication in completely randomised design, among all the treatment the treatment which received Hypsozygus ulmarius spent (paddy straw, 75%+chrysanthemum waste, 25%) showed their best by increasing the plant height (49.90 cm), number of branches (11 per plant), number of leaves (34.33 per plant) and this also increased the soil microbial population in rhizosphere of cow pea, the bacterial population (28.63×105 cfu/g), fungal population (20.60 ×104 cfu/g), PSB population (14.7×104 cfu/g) and diazotrophs (18.83×104 cfu/g), VAM spores (84.33/50 g of soil) were also increased significantly over the other treatments.

The field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2013-14 to evaluate the influence of soil test crop response (STCR) approach on the yield and quality of sunflower (Helianthus annum L.). The experiment was laid out by RCBD design with a concept of three replications. The analysis of variance revealed that the application of fertilizers on STCR (Soil Test Crop Response) along with foliar application of micro-nutrients significantly recorded higher head diameter, 100-seed weight, seed filling per cent, seed yield/ha, stover yield/ha, oil content and oil yield/ha of the crop. Further a higher gross returns, net returns and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) were observed when compared to the other treatment combinations carried out during the experiment viz., recommended dose fertilizer (RDF) of NPK (control). Hence, it can be concluded that the input of STCR approach leads to precise use of fertilizer dose as compared to RDF method, ultimately it can serve as to improve farming community by reducing the cost of cultivation, increasing yield and a basic tool for sustainable agriculture production.

The field experiment was conducted to study the impact of application of Fusarium sp. formulations on chilli plant parameters. It consists of nine treatments with different formulations of Fusarium sp. and three replications in randomised block design. Among all the treatments the highest dry chilli yield was recorded (5.12 q/ha) in the plot sprayed with dust water formulations in combination with monocrotophos (0.05%) and the lowest yield was recorded in no spray (control). Along with this experiment in vitro study was also conducted to know the compatibility of different pesticides against naturally occurring entomopathogenic fungi by means of food poisoning technique, and the effectiveness of fungicide and insecticide was measured in terms of the radial growth. The result obtained was clearly revealed that among different fungicides Bordeaux mixture, captan and copper hydroxide have the great to complete inhibition effect on Verticillium sp. And among insecticides chlorpyrifos showed the great to complete inhibition on Metarrhizium anisopliae and Verticillium sp. Followed by malathion on Verticillium sp. Copper oxychloride and wettable sulphur was resulted as safer chemical for entomopathogens and among insecticides Metasystox, Dichlorovos was showed least toxic to Fusarium isolate and Verticillium lecanii followed by Dicofol an Acaricide. Form these two study we can easily correlate that entomopathogens in combination with insecticides can reduce the quantity of application of insecticides and simultaneously increases the yield.

The study showed the significant efficacy of foliar application of macro and micronutrients along with the soil test crop responses on all the parameters of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Among nine treatments under study, treatment T 9 (STCR approach + Foliar spray of NPK @ 1% + ZnSO 4 @ 0.5% + FeSO 4 @ 0.5% and B @ 0.2%) recorded maximum height of plants (191.7cm), number of leaves per plant (22.17), leaf area (17.32 dm 2), stem girth (9.97 cm), minimum days to flowering (54), head diameter (28.14 cm) and total dry matter accumulation (108.07 g plant-1) followed by the treatment T 3 : STCR approach (Yield target: 25 q/ha) and T 8 : Soil test based NPK (STL) + Foliar spray of NPK @ 1% + ZnSO 4 @ 0.5% + FeSO 4 @ 0.5% and B @ 0.2%. The stem girth (9.97 cm) was found maximum in T 9 followed by the treatment T 3. Maximum gross returns (Rs. 65,257 ha-1), net returns (Rs. 42,105 ha-1) and B: C ratio (2.82) was found with T 9 (STCR approach + Foliar spray of NPK @ 1% + ZnSO 4 @ 0.5% + FeSO 4 @ 0.5% and B @ 0.2%). EfficacyofFoliarNutritiononVegetativeandReproductiveGrowthofSunflowerHelianthusAnnuusL Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of : Abstract-The study showed the significant efficacy of foliar application of macro and micronutrients along with the soil test crop responses on all the parameters of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Among nine treatments under study, treatment T 9 (STCR approach + Foliar spray of NPK @ 1% + ZnSO 4 @ 0.5% + FeSO 4 @ 0.5% and B @ 0.2%) recorded maximum height of plants (191.7cm), number of leaves per plant (22.17), leaf area (17.32 dm 2), stem girth (9.97 cm), minimum days to flowering (54), head diameter (28.14 cm) and total dry matter accumulation (108.07 g plant-1) followed by the treatment T 3 : STCR approach (Yield target: 25 q/ha) and T 8 : Soil test based NPK (STL) + Foliar spray of NPK @ 1% + ZnSO 4 @ 0.5% + FeSO 4 @ 0.5% and B @ 0.2%. The stem girth (9.97 cm) was found maximum in T 9 followed by the treatment T 3. Maximum gross returns (Rs. 65,257 ha-1), net returns (Rs. 42,105 ha-1) and B: C ratio (2.82) was found with T 9 (STCR approach + Foliar spray of NPK @ 1% + ZnSO 4 @ 0.5% + FeSO 4 @ 0.5% and B @ 0.2%).

Mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruit bodies of several species of macrofungi and are consumed by humans as comestibles for their nutritional value and they are occasionally consumed for their supposed medicinal value. Apart from these it can be grown on cheaply available different agro based wastes that can supplement the growth of these mushroom as a substrate, because these mushrooms are efficient degrader of lignocellulosic compounds and the spent obtained after the growth of mushroom can serve as good organic manure, in this context a Study was carried on to know the effect of substrates (Vegetable and flower wastes) on growth of mushroom fungi (Hypsozygous ulmarius) was studied. Here the preliminary test was done to know the substrate compatibility for growing mushroom in combination with paddy straw based on the weight loss of the substrate. The best combinations were selected for further studies of mushroom production by bag method. Use of 25 % Chrysanthemum flower waste + 75 % paddy straw as substrate showed higher mushroom yield (641.33 g/bag) and bio efficiency (128.26%) among all the substrate combinations in bag method.