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Diversity and functional properties of acid-tolerant bacteria isolated from tea plantation soil of Assam

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Abstract

In this study, we report on the bacterial diversity and their functional properties prevalent in tea garden soils of Assam that have low pH (3.8–5.5). Culture-dependent studies and phospholipid fatty acid analysis revealed a high abundance of Gram-positive bacteria. Further, 70 acid-tolerant bacterial isolates characterized using a polyphasic taxonomy approach could be grouped to the genus Bacillus, Lysinibacillus, Staphylococcus, Brevundimonas, Alcaligenes, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Escherichia, and Aeromonas. Among the 70 isolates, 47 most promising isolates were tested for their plant growth promoting activity based on the production of Indole Acetic Acid (IAA), siderophore, and HCN as well as solubilization of phosphate, zinc, and potassium. Out of the 47 isolates, 10 isolates tested positive for the entire aforesaid plant growth promoting tests and further tested for quantitative analyses for production of IAA, siderophore, and phosphate solubilization at the acidic and neutral condition. Results indicated that IAA and siderophore production, as well as phosphate solubilization efficiency of the isolates decreased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) in the acidic environment. This study revealed that low soil pH influences bacterial community structure and their functional properties.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the Vice-Chancellor of Assam Agricultural University, Dr. K. M. Bujarbaruah for his idea and encouragement to take up the project. The authors thank Dr. B. K. Sarmah, Director, DBT-AAU Centre, AAU, Jorhat and Dr. M. K. Modi, Head, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, AAU, Jorhat for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the research work. The help received from Mr. Debashis Panda, Research Scholar, Distributed Information Centre, AAU, in statistical analysis is also duly acknowledged. This project was supported by Grant received from DBT-AAU Centre, Assam Agricultural University.

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  1. Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, 785013, India

    Gunajit Goswami, Priyadarshini Deka, Pompi Das, Sudipta Sankar Bora, Robin Chandra Boro & Madhumita Barooah

  2. Department of Life-Sciences, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam, 786004, India

    Gunajit Goswami & Ramkrishna Samanta

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  1. Gunajit Goswami
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Goswami, G., Deka, P., Das, P. et al. Diversity and functional properties of acid-tolerant bacteria isolated from tea plantation soil of Assam. 3 Biotech 7, 229 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-017-0864-9

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