Incidence and interaction of seed borne micro flora of Cassia fistula in the Himalayan region

Abstract

Seed samples of Cassia fistula from Uttarakhand and Punjab region of North West Himalayas were evaluated for occurrence of seed micro flora. Several fungal strains and bacterial isolates were isolated from seed sources of Uttarakhand and Punjab regions. Different fungal and bacterial species were identified from the external and internal seed surfaces. Among fungus, Aspergillus and among bacteria, Bacillus species were found to be dominant with the seeds of C. fistula. Varied pattern of percent incidence was shown by bacteria and fungi, Aspergillus fumigatus followed by A. niger, Penicillium rubrum and  Bacillus megaterium, B. cereus, Pseudomonas fluorescence and Erwinia herbicola. were dominant species. In interaction studies the fungal species behaved antagonistically towards each other and with different bacterial strains.