International Science Community Association Research Journal of Recent Sciences 2277 - 2502 1 6 2012 June 2 Rhizobacteria from Rhizosphere of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and their effect on Plant Growth 58 61 EN Mostafa M.Rady 1 Agricultural Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Fayoum University, 63514-Fayoum, EGYPT Water Relations and Field Irrigation Dept. National Research Centre, Cairo, 12622 EGYPT MaybelleS. Gaballah 2 Murthy B.R.N. 1 Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal 576 104, Karnataka, INDIA Lewlyn L.R.Rodrigues 2 Anjaiah Devineni 3 Ipatova V.M. 1 Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny 141700, RUSSIA Singh Shachi 1 Center for Biotechnology, Department of Biological Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, INDIA Agbo G.A. 1 Faculty of Physical Sciences, Industrial Physics Department, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, NIGERIA Ibeh G.F. 2 Ekpe J.E. 3 Magarajan U. 1 School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, VIT University, Vellore– 632 014, Tamil Nadu, INDIA Thundilkaruppa RajR. 2 Elango T. 3 Khani Hamid 1 Sama Technical and Vocational Training College, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr Branch, Qaemshahr, IRAN YazdaniQanbar Ali 2 Department of Accounting, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, IRAN Nasiripour A. 1 Department of Health Services Administration, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, IRAN Afshar KazemiM. 2 Department of Industrial Management, Tehran markaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, IRAN Izadi A. 3 Department of Health Services Administration, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, IRAN Idris M.A. 1 Idris O.F. and Sabahelkhier M.K.Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Dongola, SUDAN O.F. Idris 2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science and technology EL-Neelain University, SUDAN Sabahelkhier M.K. 3 Raval A.A. 1 Department of Microbiology, Arts, Science and Commerce College, Kamrej Cross Roads, Surat, INDIA Desai P.B. 2 Dept. of Microbiology, Shree Ramkrishna Inst. of Applied Sciences, MTB College Campus, Athwalines, Surat, INDIA > Short Communication 2012 2 26 2012 June 2 Rhizosphere harbors a vast population of bacteria; among them a beneficial group is the Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) that help plant growth promotion. Sunflower is an important oilfield crop and has also been used in bioremediation and phytoremediation studies. Several of these bacteria were isolated from different sites, the bulk soil, rhizosphere and endorhizosphere regions of this experimental plant and their effects on plant growth were studied. The stimulation of plant growth is attributed to various plant growth promoting mechanisms. Study of the direct mechanisms i.e. production of phytohormones, solubilization of Phosphate and the indirect mechanisms- antifungal activity against plant pathogenic fungi, production of lytic and detoxification enzymes, Siderophore production, production of Ammonia and HCN were also carried out. Among the isolates, about 30 rhizobacteria that were positive for several of these plant growth promoting mechanisms were selected for plate germination and pot assay experiments. The bacteria mainly belonged to the Azotobacter, Pseudomonads, and the Bacillus group. From the plate experiments seven of the bacteria were selected i.e. four rhizosphere isolates, one endorhizosphere isolate and two soil isolates gave promising results when compared to control. All of the isolates also showed elongation of roots. Three had elongated shoots as compared to control in pot trial experiments. These isolates will be further tested for field experiments. Copyright@ International Science Community Association