Vol. 11, Issue 6 (2022)

Author(s):
Umakant Banjare, Arun Kumar Patel, Ashish Kumar Pandey, Santosh Kumar, Sandeep Kumar Gupta and Ramesh Kumar Singh

Abstract:
Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik. L.) is a legume & cool season crop. Mature lentil seeds are usually rich in proteins although they produce these proteins during their growth. Lentil seeds have a high amount of protein between 20.6 and 31.4 g/100 g. It maintains soil fertility through symbiotic nitrogen fixation in association with Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. Viciae. This study was carried out to characterize Rhizobium species isolated from root nodules of lentil. The isolates were identified and characterized on the basis of colony morphology and biochemical traits viz. gram staining, catalase, oxidase tests, KOH and nitrate reductase test. The Rhizobium isolates were white, mucilaginous, translucent, circular & fast grower on YEMA plates. They were rod-shaped, gram negative, positive for catalase, oxidase, KOH & nitrate reductase tests. Out of twenty isolates two isolates were found to be gram positive by showing violet/purple staining in gram reaction indicated their non-Rhizobium characteristic.