Pseudomonas lurida M2RH3 (MTCC 9245), a psychrotolerant bacterium from the Uttarakhand Himalayas, solubilizes phosphate and promotes wheat seedling growth

Pseudomonas lurida strain M2RH3 (MTCC 9245) is a Gram negative, non spore forming, fluorescent bacterium isolated from a high altitude rhizospheric soil from the Uttarakhand Himalayas. The identity of the bacterium was arrived by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and subsequent phylogenetic analysis. It grew and exhibited plant growth promoting traits at 4, 15 and 30°C, under in vitro conditions. The expression of plant growth promoting (PGP) traits by the bacterium was highest at 30°C, with a proportionate reduction in PGP activity at lower temperatures. Determination of phosphate solubilization by the bacterium at three incubation temperatures revealed a steady increase in the soluble P levels across the incubation temperatures, coupled with a concomitant drop in the pH levels of the culture supernatant, till the 14th day of incubation. Seed bacterization with the isolate positively influenced the growth and nutrient uptake parameters of wheat seedlings cv. VL 804 in pot culture conditions at controlled cold growing temperature. This is an early report on the phosphate solubilization and plant growth promotion by Pseudomonas lurida , which is a relatively new species of the genus Pseudomonas and opens up a hitherto unknown facet of this bacterium.