An attempt was made to isolate and characterize the desiccation tolerant rhizobacteria from arid regions of Karnataka. A total of nine desiccation tolerant rhizobacteria were isolated from soil samples collected from arid regions of Chitradurga, Gadag and Koppal districts. These isolates were further subjected to morphological and biochemical studies. The Gram staining study of the nine isolates revealed thatCHI-1, CHI-2, CHI-3, and CHI-5 are Gram negative. The other isolates viz., CHI-4, GAD-1, GAD-2, KOP-1 and KOP-2 are Gram positive. The isolates CHI-1, GAD-1, KOP-1, 2 were positive for H2S production. CHI-2, 3, 4, 5, GAD-2, KOP-1, 2 were positive for casein hydrolysis. Bacterial isolates were screened for ammonia production, ACC deaminase activity, siderophore production. Among the isolates, isolate KOP-2, GAD-1, and CHI-4 showed better results for above parameters compared to other isolates. | Isolation and characterization of desiccation tolerant rhizobacteria from arid regions of Karnataka, India
