ANNUAL REPORT - Department of Biotechnology

oth adults and nymphs. First year multilocation
trials of the biopesticide formulation developed has
been under taken on cotton. The trials were
undertaken at CICR, Nagpur and Coimbatore during
Kharif 2005. The formulations were effective even 5
days after spraying in terms of %age reduction in
square damage over control and significantly
superior to control recording a higher yield.
Multilocation trials on chickpea were also undertaken
at Rajasthan Agricultural University, Jaipur and ICAR
Centre at Sehore, Bhopal. All the treatments were
found significantly better than control against
H.armigera.
Prospecting for Microbes
Plant growth promoting microbial inoculants isolated
at IHBT, Palampur are under field trial. Presently, field
evaluation is in progress in cold desert of Himachal
Pradesh. Eleven efficient PGPR isolates have been
characterized on the basis of 16S rRNA gene
sequencing. The sequence generated has been
deposited with NCBI Gene Bank.
At MSSRF, Chennai, novel salt tolerant nitrogen
fixing and phosphate solubilising strains of bacteria
already identified were further taken up for field trial.
The 4 strains MSP-27, MSP-146, MSP-393, MSP-
573 were taken up for field trials for testing as
biocontrol agents. Two strains - MSP393 and MP27
found to be efficient would be taken up for further
testing. MSP-573 showed 33.4% of disease
suppression under non-saline conditions.
Comparative performance of phosphate solubilizers
and nitrogen fixers was tested at lab/green house
conditions. Field-testing of the selected strains of
phosphate solubilizers and nitrogen fixers was found
efficient under normal and saline conditions. MOU for
formulations and third party testing was signed with
Elbitec. Development of carrier based formulations
for all the 16 strains have been achieved. Liquid
formulations for Azospirillum MSA- 148 and
Phosphobacteria PS-5 were also achieved but the
liquid formulation for Swaminathania salitolerans
could not be achieved. Extensive field trials have
been conducted in 208 acres of paddy on a
participatory approach with a consortium of biocontrol
strains, phosphate solubilizers and nitrogen fixers. An
efficient P. fluorescens strain has been identified
DBT Annual Report 2006-07
60
which has been taken up for field trials on crops
affected by leaf streak disease at Rice Research
Station, Tirur after being confirmed to be non-toxic.
The occurrence of symptom in the new leaves was
not observed and this study also prevented further
spread of the disease to the adjacent field where the
same rice variety was grown.
500 endophytic fungal isolates have been isolated
from the inner bark segments of four medicinal plant
species viz., Terminalia arjuna, Crataeva magna,
Azadirachta indica and Holarrhena antidysenterica
representing various habitats. Two thousand
fermentation products of fungal endophytes
prepared employing six media combinations, were
screened for DPPH free radical scavenging assay
and antimicrobial assay. One hundred isolates
exhibiting more than 50% DPPH radical scavenging
activity were selected and fermented on a large
scale, which include species of Pestalotiopsis,
Trichoderma, Myrothecium, Mycelia sterilia and
unidentified sporulating fungi. These extracts were
subjected to DPPH, lipid peroxidation, DNA
protection and antihypertensive assay. In
antibacterial assay, ten isolates were found positive
against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria
by microplate assay as well as disc diffusion method.
Endophytic fungal extracts from Aspergillus flavus
columnaris, Pestalotiopsis spp. and some
unidentified sporulating fungi showed positive
antifungal activity against important plant pathogenic
fungi.
In another project on investigation of the microflora of
insect of Western Ghats for potentially useful
Bioactive molecules, about 30 insects specimens
have been collected and identified morphologically
from different parts of Western Ghats. Insects were
identified by sequencing the mitochondrial 16S rRNA
primers specific for insect taxa yielding 600 base pair
amplicons. Bacterial isolates recovered from the
insect gut were screened for protease, cellulase and
lipase activities, and also for the presence of
nanoparticles like gold and silver in presence of
different salts.
Region Specific Programmes launched
specifically targeting bioresources of fragile
ecosystems.