1Biocatalysts Laboratary Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu, India.
2Asian Research Centre for Bioresources and Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo.
*Corresponding Author: Sivakumar Uthandi, Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu, India. Email: usivakumartnau@gmail.com
Rice is a staple food crop worldwide and enhancing its resilience to abiotic stress such as drought is crucial for sustainable agriculture.
In this study, yeast strains associated with rice plants were isolated and characterized for their plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits. Yeasts isolated from rice rhizosphere VIR1, DIN2 and VIR3 were evaluated for key PGP traits such as 1- aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase activity, production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophore and mineral solubilization.
Among them, isolate VIR1 demonstrated the highest activity, producing ACC deaminase (112.5±0.8 nmol α-ketobutyrate mg-1 protein h-1), IAA (12.5±1.0 μg mL-1), siderophores (36.8±2.3% SU), phosphate solubilization (86.7±0.6 μg mL-1) and zinc solubilization (11.9±0.9 μg mL-1). Molecular identification using 18S rRNA gene sequencing revealed VIR1 and VIR3 as Candida tropicalis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively.
Nutrition, Plant growth promotion, Rice, Soil yeast
