Abstract

EXPLORING COMPETENCE OF FLUORESCENT PSEUDOMONAS SPP. FOR HEAVY METAL TOLERANCE

Ashwini S. Darokar and Arti S. Shanware*

ABSTRACT

During the current investigations in the laboratory, some potential strains of fluorescent nature were isolated from the rhizospheric soil of plants viz., Tomato, Brinjal and Sugarcane from different field sites of vidarbha region. These isolates were subsequently identified as fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. by performing standard microbiological and biochemical tests. The present studies deal with exploration of the heavy metal tolerance capability of these isolates against various concentrations of some selected heavy metals. In preliminary investigations, total 6 heavy metal compounds – Zinc Sulphate (ZnSO4), Potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7), Copper sulphate (CuSO4), Arsenic chloride (AsCl3), Mercuric chloride (HgCl2), Lead nitrate [Pb(NO3)2] were screened against these isolates to generate a sensitivity profile. Further the growth and fluorescence pattern of the said isolates were verified by incorporating different concentration of heavy metals while performing the standard tests and through spectrophotometric analysis. The effect of heavy metals on growth and PGPR activity was analyzed in this study. The heavy metal resistant isolates could be interned in solid or liquid bioinoculants and could be effectively used in agricultural soil contaminated with heavy metals.

Keywords: Heavy metal compounds, fluorescent Pseudomonas, contaminants, MIC, PGPR.