of India NI Cn fSessire) International symposium on MIGROBIAL BI OEGHNOVOGY: DIVERSIIN, GENOMICS AND) MEJAGEN OMICS, (November 18-20, 2008)International symposium on Microbial Biotechnology-Delhi, 2008 AM 561 : Indole acetic acid and siderophore production by indigenous bacteria associated with rhizosphere of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) Farokh Rokhbakhsh-Zamin'*, Nadia Kazemi-Pour', Dhara P. Sachdev'”, Anupama Engineer’, Smita S. Zinjarde’ ,Prashant K. Dhakephalkar’, and Balu A. Chopade '” " Department of Microbiology, University of Pune, Pune 411007, India > Institute of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, University of Pune, Pune 411007, India * Microbial Science Division, Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune 411004, India Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) are commonly used for improving the growth and yield of agricultural crops and so screening of effective strains from rhizosphere of crop plants is very critical. Few bacteria were isolated from rhizosphere of pear! millet cultivated in Pune District India as per standard methods. The bacterial isolates were studied for production of Indole Acetic, ‘Acid (IAA) as a plant growth promoting regulator by Salkowski colorimetric technique. The bacterial isolates were also studied for siderophore production which may enhance plant growth by increasing the availabilty of iron (Fe Ill) near the root or inhibiting the colonization of roots by plant pathogens using the CAS blue agar method. Two isolates showed IAA and siderophore production, these isolates were designated as S6A1 and E4V1. Highest auxin level was detected during the stationary growth phase as 0.013 mgiml for SA1 and 0.15 mgiml for E4V1. Type of siderophore Produced was determined as per Amow’s, Atkin's and Caskey assays, which showed that S6A1 and E4V1 could produce catechol type siderophore/s. Two selected isolates were identified by API Computerized identification test as well as 16SrDNA genomic fingerprinting and S6A1 was identified a8 Acinetobacter calcoaceticus whereas E4V1 as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. This study focused on the screening of effective PGPR strains on the basis of their potential for in vitro auxin and siderophore production but other plant growth promoting activities like nitrogen fixation, Phosphate solubilization and production of antibiotics against plant pathogens are in the future prospect.