Seven endophytic bacterial isolates were finally
recovered from native sugarcane varieties at hilly areas
namely Berinag, Champawat and Didihat of Uttarakhand
state in northern Himalayan region. New isolates and
two standard cultures—Azospirillum brasilense and Gluconacetobacter
diazotrophicus, were evaluated for their
morphological, biochemical and molecular characteristics.
Morphologically all were rod shaped, Gram-negative bacteria.
Their plant growth promotory properties were also
assessed which proved isolates RtBn and StBn as IAA
producing. Except isolate StBn, all were phosphate solubilising
and except RtBn all produced siderophores.
Molecular characterisation of the isolates was performed
using amplified 16S r-DNA restriction analysis. Similarity
index in unweighted pair group method with arithmetic
mean programme clustered the isolates according to their
geographical distribution. Native isolates showed insignificant
similarity with South American strains used as
standards. nifH amplification was observed with all the
isolates used in the study which again establish them as
potential N-fixers.