MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF FIVE BACILLUS STRAINS WITH PLANT GROWTH POTENTIAL ABILITIES
VESELKA GEORGIEVA, DILYANA NIKOLOVA, YANA EVSTATIEVA*
Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
*Corresponding author: y.evstatieva@biofac.uni-sofia.bg
Keywords: Bacillus, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, taxonomy characterization
Abstract: Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are a group of bacteria typically isolated from rhizosphere where they can enhance the growth of plants directly or indirectly. The aim of this study was to identify five rhizosphere strains from genus Bacillus by complex of phenotypic and molecular methods for taxonomy characterization. Belonging of five investigated strains to Bacillus genus were confirmed by their biochemical profile, estimated by API 50CHB. On the base of analysis of 16S rDNA sequences two of the studied strains, 6VR and 8VR, were identified as Bacillus subtilis. The other strains belong to three different species: 7VR to Bacillus cereus, 9VR to Bacillus pumilus and 13VR to Bacillus thuringiensis respectively.