Genetic and functional diversities of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere of Arachis hypogaea

Bioinoculants are environmentally friendly, energy efficient and economically viable resources in sustainable agriculture. Knowledge of the structure and activities of microbial population in the rhizosphere of a plant is essential to formulate an effective bioinoculant. In this study, the bacterial community present in the rhizosphere of an important oilseed legume, Arachis hypogaea (L.) was described with respect to adjoining bulk soil as a baseline control using a 16S rDNA based metagenomic approach. Significantly higher abundance of Gamma-proteobacteria, a prevalence of Bacillus and the Cytophaga-Flavobacteria group of Bacteroidetes and absence of the Rhizobiaceae family of Alpha-proteobacteria were the major features observed in the matured Arachis-rhizosphere. The functional characterization of the rhizosphere-competent bacteria was performed using culture-dependent determination of phenotypes. Most bacterial isolates from the groundnut-rhizosphere exhibited multiple biochemical activities associated with plant growth and disease control. Validation of the beneficial traits in candidate bioinoculants in pot-cultures and field trials is necessary before their targeted application in the groundnut production system.