ISOLATION AND MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF RHIZOBACTER FROM ROOTS OF Salvadora persica L. COLLECTED FROM HARAPPA, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Salvadora persica L., is a perennial specie of family salvadoraceae renowned for its ethnobotanical uses due to its polypharmacological properties, and it is endangered due to its over exploitation. The aim of this study is the isolation and molecular identification of Rhizobacter in symbiotic association with S. persica L. acclimatised in the Harappa region of Punjab, Pakistan. Aseptically processed Rhizopheric soil samples were used to isolate bacteria by serial dilutions for plating on Luria Bertani agar medium. After proliferation and isolation of Gram positive Bacilli, the genomic DNA was extracted and brought under the 16S rRNA PCR. The isolate was identified as Priestia megaterium after conducting sequencing and BLAST analysis of 898bp amplicon with a satisfactory result of a 100% similarity. The acquired sequence was then deposited in NCBI GenBank under the Accession No. PQ136465 confirming its Phylogenetic taxonomic placement within the Priestia genus. The industrial uses of P. megaterium are recognized for plant nutrient solubilisation and phytohormone production promoting plant growth categorising this rhizobacterium as a promising bacterial isolate for biofertilizer research. This study accentuates the ecological importance and potential of native soil biomes and bacterial communities in symbiotic associations with the plants enhancing and conserving soil fertility creating resilience against climate change.