In vitro Efficacy of Endophytic Bacteria Isolated from Aerobic Rice Varieties againstRhizoctonia solani

摘要

Endophytic bacteria live inside the plants without causing any harm, promote plant growth and help in controlling plant diseases. An investigation was carried out in vitro to access the endophytic bacteria isolated from aerobic rice for biocontrol ofRhizoctonia solani, a causal organism of rice sheath blight. Out of the total isolates obtained from surface sterilized samples of the four genotypes of aerobic rice, only four isolates inhibited mycelial growth of Rhizoctonia solani. An isolate designated as AM65S2 showed highest antifungal activity (67.04% inhibition) and showed only 24 per cent disease incidence in vitro. Apart from showing antagonistic activity these isolates also fix nitrogen or solubilize phosphate. This work revealed that some endophytic bacteria from aerobic rice apart from acting as biocontrol agents also promote plant growth through biological nitrogen fixation and phosphate solubilization and will be added advantage to be used in microbial inoculation.