CHITINASE PRODUCING ENDOPHYTIC BACTERIA FROM Calotropis gigantea: A PROMISING PERSPECTIVE OF BIOPESTICIDE

Bacterial endophytes from medicinal plants plays an important role in biotic and abiotic stress protection. In usual agricultural practice, chemical pesticides are applied to manage pest incidence but repeated spraying over a long period leads to accumulation of undesirable pesticide residues, toxicity hazards to consumers and environmental pollution. By considering the current scenario, discovery and development of environment friendly biopesticides is need of the hour. Nowadays, bacterial chitinase gained importance in agricultural field due to its chitin degrading potential. In this view, present study was initiated to isolate & screen the chitinolytic endophytic bacteria from the medicinal plant, Calotropis gigantea. A total of 38 endophytic bacteria were isolated, only 2 strains (CGL-9 and CGL-12) showed potent chitinolytic activity. Further, chitinase enzyme was purified from CGL-12 strain using gel-filtration chromatography and separated using SDS-PAGE. To explore the isolation of endophytic bacterial strains for novel metabolites, present study was initiated as first report of chitinase producing endophytic bacteria from C. gigantea which further leads to the identification of new biopesticide for effective management of pests/diseases.