Bacillus sonorensis, a Novel Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacterium in Improving Growth, Nutrition and Yield of Chilly (Capsicum annuum L.)

Plant growth promoting rhizomicroorganisms (PGPR) play an important role in improving plant growth, nutrition and yield of different crops. Chilly is one of the major commercial crops of India with large export potential. The first experiment was conducted with 10 PGPR to investigate their effects on growth and yield of chilly. Although most of the plant parameters studied were statistically not significant, 2 PGPR viz. Paenibacillus polymyxa and Pantoea dispersa showed agronomic improvement in plant growth as compared to control and other treatments. The second experiment was conducted with these 2 PGPR plus 8 more PGPR in order to select the best PGPR for inoculating chilly. Inoculation significantly improved the growth, nutrition and fruit yield as compared to uninoculated control. Considering plant dry biomass and fruit yield, Methylobacterium radiotolerans proved to be the best PGPR. Further screening with M. radiotolerans plus 2 more PGPR viz. Bacillus sonorensis and Paenibacillus elgii on 2 common varieties of chilly resulted in enhanced plant dry biomass, nutrition and fruit yield. The results clearly brought out that B. sonorensis is the most promising PGPR inoculant for chilly. The plant growth promoting traits revealed that B. sonorensis is a P-solubilizer and able to produce indole acetic acid, siderophore, chitinase, hydrogen cyanide and good in biofilm formation.