Production of Plant Growth Hormones by Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophs

Methylotrophic bacteria like pink pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFMs) which are present on leaf surfaces take up methanol from the wastes of plant metabolism and contribute to growth and development of host plant in a number of ways. Using the leaf imprint method [1] and serial dilution technique, as many as 200 PPFM isolates were obtained from chilli leaves, rhizosphere soil and roots samples collected from 76 different locations and were tested for the production of plant growth promoting substances (IAA and GA). The production of IAA and GA varied among different PPFM isolates from 19.77 mu g/ml to 0.14 mu g/ml of culture filtrate and 128.28 mu g/ml to 4.77 mu g/ml of culture filtrate respectively.