Send Message

Mitigation of Water Scarcity with Sustained Growth of Rice by Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophics (PPFMs) Bacteria

Pink pigmented facultative methylotrophics (PPFMs), ubiquitous in nature, one such an organism of paramount importance of PPFMs which is capable of mitigating the effects of drought on crops and thereby improving its growth and productivity. PPFMs are bacteria capable of growing on C1 compounds like methanol, formaldehyde and methylamine; commonly found in soils, leaf surface, seeds and in the rhizosphere of a wide variety of plants, with highest numbers present on actively growing meristamatic tissue. It produces plant growth regulators such zeatin, cytokinins and auxins which have an impact on seed germination and seedling development. PPFMs are known to improve plant growth by adopting various mechanisms viz., nitrogen fixation, nodule formation, phosphate solubilisation, production of urease enzyme and vitamin B12, plant growth regulators and synthesis of siderophores. PPFMs promote plant growth by producing an enzyme 1- aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase is responsible for drought management during the beneficial interaction with plants. PPFMs is responsible for a variety of beneficial effects on plants, including accelerating vegetative growth by producing phytohormones, increasing leaf area index, chlorophyll content, advancing flowering and fruit maturation by a few days, enhancing fruit quality, colour and seed weight, 10% yield enhancement and also mitigating the drought. Methylotrophic bacteria generate 1-aminocyclopropane-1- carboxylate (ACC) deaminase and encourage plants to create antioxidant enzymes and osmolytes, which aid in reducing the stress caused by drought.