Antifungal potential of native strain isolated from rhizosphere soil of Valeriana jatamansi from temperate regions of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract: Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are commonly used as inoculants for improving the growth and yield of agricultural crops. The use of PGPR is steadily increasing in agriculture and offers an attractive way to replace chemical fertilizers, pesticides and supplements. Thus the present study focuses on the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of potent PGPR isolates with multiple plant growth promoting (PGP) traits and antifungal potential against different phytopathogenic fungi. Biochemical, molecular and phylogenetic characterization of four effective PGPR isolates (CKMV1, CKMV2, CKMV3 and CKMV4) of Valeriana jatamansi demonstrated that three strains belonged to genus Bacillus spp. and one belonged to Aneurinibacillus spp. The strain CKMV1 identified as (Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus) on the basis of 16S rDNA homology showed a considerable antifungal potential against different phytopathogens along with multiple PGP traits like phosphate solubilization, IAA production, HCN production, siderophore production. Significant growth inhibition of phytopathogenic fungi by CKMV1 was obtained in the order Sclerotium rolfsii > Rhizoctonia solani > Phytopthora cactorum > Alternaria spp. > Fusarium oxysporum. Thus, the secondary metabolite producing A. aneurinilyticus strain CKMV1 exhibited innate potential of plant growth promotion and biocontrol activities in vitro which can further be used as biofertilizer as well as biocontrol agent.