Cyanobacterial diversity in the rhizosphere of rice and its ecological signifi cance

摘要

This investigation was undertaken to characterize the abundance and genera-wise diversity of cyanobacteria in the rice rhizosphere and nitrogen-fi xing ability of the isolated strains. The cyanobacterial strains belonging to the genera Nostoc and Anabaena comprised 80% of the rhizosphere isolates, which were also effi cient in enhancing the germination and growth of wheat seeds and exhibited signifi cantly high protein accumulation and IAA production. Distinct profi les for the cyanobacterial strains were obtained on amplifi cation with extended Hip 1 primer – HipTG, indicative of the diversity among these strains. Our investigation helped in identifying promising cyanobacterial isolates from the rhizosphere of rice, which can be utilized in developing effi cient plant growth promoting cyanobacterial inoculants.