Plant Growth Ameliorating and Rhizosphere Competent Native Acinetobacter pittii Strain F2 5 from the Rhizosphere of Zea mays L.

Background: Acinetobacter is an aerobic gram negative, non-spore forming, oxidase negative, catalase positive, non-motile encapsulated coccobacilli. They are ubiquitous in nature mostly isolated from soil, water, food, sewage, animal and human skin, marine water and rhizosphere of maize and wheat. The present study was focused on isolation and characterization of a native strain of rhizospheric Acinetobacter for plant growth promoting ability through different microbiological and morphometric parameters under greenhouse conditions.
Methods: Rhizosphere soil samples were collected from maize fields and processed as per the standard microbiological procedure. The morphology was reconfirmed through scanning electron microscopy. DNA extraction was performed by using al. Two sets of primers (universal and specific for H. pylori) were used to amplify the 16S ribosomal gene. Sanger sequencing was applied and the resulted sequences were matched with the sequences of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) nucleotide database. The evolutionary aspects were analyzed using MEGA7 software.
Result: The strain exhibited plant growth promoting attributes of ammonia generation, inorganic and organic phosphate solubilization 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity. The strain was identified as Acinetobacter pittii through 16S rRNA sequencing and was designated as Acinetobacter pittii strain F2 5 with the accession number KM677194. Scanning electron microscopy was carried out to reconfirm the morphology of the strain. Under laboratory and green house conditions the strain improved the shoot and root length and its biomass of the treated maize seedlings as compared to the uninoculated control underscoring the plant growth potential of these strains in sustainable agricultural practices.