In what seems to be a prelude to the second phase of Haritha Haaram, an associate professor in Palamuru University’s Department of Microbiology has earned the rare distinction of discovering a new strain of bacteria helpful in plant growth and agro-forestry.
The bacterium, Chryseomicrobium Palamuruense, will be the first ever to be named after Palamuru (Mahabubnagar), and its discovery has led Palamuru University to create a new page in the science arena, says Professor Pavan Kumar Pindi, who isolated the bacterium from a soil sample taken from inside the university campus. The sample was collected from a drain in 2009, and its culture began a year later running into over five years of research before the bacterium was isolated.
The results of the research have been published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM), an international peer reviewed journal of American Society of Microbiology. The publication can be viewed online after it undergoes scientific evaluation from American scientific and production evaluation.
“The bacterium aids the growth and survival rate of nursery plants and agro-forestry tree species. It has high potential as bio-fertiliser and also as enzyme producer for industrial applications,” says Prof. Pavan Kumar, adding that it aids in increasing the plant growth hormones in many agricultural crops. While there are many bacteria which aid plant growth through Nitrogen fixation, each is specific to certain host plant and the latest discovery is specific to nursery plants, Prof. Pavan Kumar says. Application of this strain as bio-fertiliser prepares the plant to withstand biotic and abiotic stress in any climatic and soil conditions.
“The same was confirmed by experiments done in collaboration with IIT-Delhi, the results of which are published in the Indian Journal of Biotechnology,” he said, and added that the novelty of this bacterium has also been recognised by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information.
The Palamuruense strain culture has been deposited in culture deposition centres of Japan, Korea, Netherlands, and Sweden for preservation for future and further research. A patent will soon be applied for, said Prof. Kumar, who also had been a postdoctoral fellow of DAAD for three years and of CCMB for five years.
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All about the bacterium
The bacterium, Chryseomicrobium Palamuruense, to be the first ever to be named after Palamuru
Professor Pavan Kumar Pindi isolated the bacterium from a soil sample taken from inside the university campus
It aids the growth and survival rate of nursery plants and agro-forestry tree species
