To analyze the epiphyticmicrobiota,plant samples were
washed thoroughly with tap water followed by sterile
doubledistilled water [10]. Eachplant sample was cut aseptically
into 1 cm long segments using a sterile blade under
the laminar flow hood and allowed to dry. The cut surfaces
of plant segments were placed on Petri plates containing
Nutrient Agar (NA) media (Himedia, India). Each plant
segment was inoculatedintriplicate. Plates were thenincubated
at 32 ◦C for 48 h. Colonies with different morphology
and pigmentation were randomly selected from each plate
and streaked on fresh NA plates as described above. Simultaneously,
the pure isolates were preserved in 20% glycerol
at −20 ◦C for further studies.