Isolation and Identification of potential diazotrophic Endophytic Bacteria from Sweet flag (Acorus calamus) medicinal plant

An endophytic bacterium was isolated from Acorus calamus rhizomes, which is an important medicinal plant. The rhizome is an important medicinal nutrient source of microorganisms, in the rhizosphere. The isolate was evaluated for various biochemical tests. Further the isolate PPAU01 was subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. The isolate was identified as Enterobacter cloacae sub sp dissolvens which was selected for further studies. The isolate was able to exhibit the plant growth promoting traits such as IAA production, ARA activity, Phosphate solubilization and siderophore production. The ability of this isolate was tested under pot culture condition. The isolate PPAU01 treated plants recorded the maximum germination percentage (93.3%), vigour index (1156.23), plant height (61.03 cm), rhizome dry weight (37.02g) and β-asarone compound (2.26%) compared to control.