Diversity of Azospirillum strains isolated from rice plants grown in saline and nonsaline sites of coastal agricultural ecosystem

The diversity of indigenous Azospirillum spp. associated with rice cultivated along the coastline of Tamil Nadu was analyzed. Twelve sites with varying soil characteristics such as salinity, texture, and the host variety were chosen. Of the 402 strains isolated using NFB media, 302 were confirmed to be Azospirillum spp. and subjected to DNA polymorphism analysis using PCR-RFLP of 16S rDNA. They were also screened for their salt tolerance and microaerobic N-2-fixing-dependent growth. On species identification, all the strains were found to be A. brasilense, A. lipoferum, or unidentified. On comparing the influence of the previously noted variability on the indigenous population, soil salinity was found to play a dominant role. This was revealed by PCR-RFLP studies and salt tolerance studies. A high association between soil salinity and the distribution of Azospirillum genotypes reveals that soil salinity should be taken into consideration while developing biofertilizers specifically for the coastal agricultural ecosystem.