Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF PHOSPHATE SOLUBILIZING PENICILLIUM EXPANSUM NAUG-B1 AND THEIR CONSEQUENCE ON GROWTH OF BRINJAL

Bina J. Panchal, Swati Patel, Rajkumar, Sanjay Jhab, Lalit Mahatma and Diwakar Singh

Abstract

Present study clearly indicates rock phosphate solubilization by the fungal strain isolated from agriculture soil. The P-solubilizing activity of Phosphate Solubilizing Fungi (PSF) in Tris minimal rock phosphate (TRP) broth varied from 49.57 μMmL-1 to 634.89μ MmL-1 at 48 hrs to 192 hrs incubation respectively with maximum decreasing pH from 8.0 to 4.0. P-solubilization activity was associated with release of organic acids by the reduction in pH of TRP medium (pH 8.0). HPLC analysis detected gluconic acid as major organic acid in the course of P-solubilization. From the morphological and molecular characterization, the isolated species was identified as Penicillium expansum NAUG-B1. PSF isolate was biocompilable and produced growth promoting hormone IAA, in concentration of 181 mg ml-1. Further, effect of Penicillium expansum NAUG-B1 was observed on the growth and development of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) in pot experiment. Maximum stimulatory effect on brinjal plant growth was observed by inoculation of Penicillium expansum NAUG-B1 and rock phosphate with significantly increased germination percentage (42.69%), shoot length (68.65%), root length (46.25%), shoot dry weight (62.17%), root dry weight (40.62%), chlorophyll (80.56%) and phosphorus (42.22%) content of shoot biomass compared to control, which clearly demonstrates that Penicillium expansum NAUG-B1 has promising Plant Growth Promoting Fungi (PGPF) attributes to enhance soil fertility and promote plant growth.