ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF AZOSPIRILLUM STRAINS ISOLATED FROM DIFFERENT AGROCLIMATIC ZONES OF VIRUDHUNAGAR DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU

N. TENSINGH BALIAH; V.RAJALAKSHMI

Volume : V, Issue : XII, December - 2015

ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF AZOSPIRILLUM STRAINS ISOLATED FROM DIFFERENT AGROCLIMATIC ZONES OF VIRUDHUNAGAR DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU

N. Tensingh Baliah, V. Rajalakshmi

Abstract :

The present study was carried out to explore the Azospirillum strains isolated from different agroclimatic zones of Virudhunagar District, Tamil Nadu. The isolated strains were identified and studied their biology. The result revealed that the population of Azospirillum was higher in soil collected from Sattur and followed by Rajapalayam. Among ten selectes strains, eight were identified as Azospirillum lipoferum and remaining identified as Azospirillum asilense. In vitro studies such as tolerance level to pH, temperature and antibiotics were studied to know about the biology of selected strains. Azospirillum strains preferred temperature ranging from 15ºC to 35ºC. The optimum pH for the growth of Azospirillum ranged from 6.0 – 7.5. All the Azospirillum strains showed tolerance up to 300 ppm for penicillin, 200 ppm for chloramphenicol and 200 ppm for streptomycin. Further, the utilization various chemical sources like carbon, nitrogen, amino acids and vitamins varied among the strains.