In this study, we report the discovery of novel Nigrospora species isolated from the extensively cultivated PUSA 44 rice variety in Punjab, India. Out of the 120 isolates examined, 6.6% and 5% isolates exhibited tolerance to high salinity and drought stress. Isolates 6OSFR2e and 7OSFS3a exhibited the highest indole acetic acid and gibberellic acid production, with 268.32 ± 08.10 and 25.72 ± 0.04 µg/mL. Additionally, isolates 7OSFS3a, 6OSFR2e and 6OSFL4c had highest antioxidant potential with IC50 345.45 ± 11.66, 391.58 ± 10.66, and 474.529 ± 11.08 µg/mL. The isolates 6OSFR2e and 6OSFL4c also exhibited phosphate solubilisation with a PI of 1.06 ± 0.00 and 1.04 ± 0.02. The highest cellulase and laccase production with EI 1.24 ± 0.00 and 1.16 ± 0.00 was observed by isolates 6OSFR2e and 6OSFL4c. Promising results were observed in the case of ammonia production. The isolates belonged to the same phylum, Ascomycota and were identified as Nigrospora zimmermanii (6OSFR2e) and Nigrospora oryzae (7OSFS3a), and Nigrospora sphaerica (6OSFL4c) using morpho-taxonomic and molecular identification. The present study provides a critical insight into the characteristics of these Nigrospora species, which could be used to develop a bio-consortium for the rejuvenation of PUSA-44 cultivation.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03679-9.
Keywords: Abiotic stress; Climate change; Phosphate solubilisation; Phytohormone; Plant growth promotion.
© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.