Abstract:
Management of drought stress through application of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is
now considered as an effective strategy in the present scenario of altered environmental conditions of
the world. The aims and objectives of the present investigation was isolation, characterization and
identification of some potential microbial resources (PGPR) from drought-affected upland rice fields of
South Bengal followed by experimentation on the effect of isolated PGPR on drought induced rice
seedlings. Selected isolates were isolated from rice field rhizospheric soils and tested for their PGPR
activity, through phosphate solubilization, nitrogen fixation, IAA production and ACC deaminase
activity. Then, the selected isolates were identified through 16S rDNA sequencing and phylogenetic
analysis. Among the screened isolates two (isolate 1 and isolate 6) showing plant growth promoting
traits, was applied on studied germplasm (IR64) to find out the influence of the applied organisms on
rice growth and development under induced drought. Both organisms showed a positive influence
(through increase in germination percentage, root growth, shoot growth, fresh weight and dry weight)
on the studied rice growth and development under induced drought. Isolate 1 and 6 identified as
species of Mycobacterium sp. and Bacillus sp. respectively through molecular taxonomy. Hence, these
two isolates are expected to alleviate drought stress in the rice field for their nature of plant growth
promotion under drought stress.
