<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;\"><strong><em><span style=\"font-size: 10.0pt;\">Abstract</span></em></strong></p>
<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-size: 10.0pt;\">Plant growth- promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are useful free living bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere, which when applied to seeds or crops, enhanced the plant growth by different mechanisms. The use of PGPR is increases regularly by farmers<strong>.</strong> Rhizosphere of many plants has microbial diversity depending on the variety of plants and effect of root exudates which promotes growth and also the crop yield or quality. During the present study such 30 plant growth promoting rhizobacteria were isolated from rhizospheric soil of Sorghum bicolor cultivated at Jalgaon North Maharashtra Region of&nbsp; India .The rhizospheric soil from fields having alkaline pH&nbsp; were collected&nbsp; at first&nbsp; stages of growth and were tested for various PGPR traits. Most efficient bacterial isolates were screened on the basis of their positive activity for,&nbsp; IAA production, ACC-deaminase activity, P-solubilization, Zn-solubilization and N2fixationare&nbsp; directly&nbsp; promote&nbsp; plant growth. Compared to bulk soil, rhizosheric bacteria are more potential to promote plant growth. Out of five different traits screened bacteria were having more than 50 % traits supporting plant growth out of 30 isolates. Such PGPR species can be further explored as bioinoculants.</span></em></p>
<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;\">Key words: Rhizobacteria , IAA,ACC-deaminase, PGPR.</span></p>
 
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