Antibiotic Resistance in Mesorhizobium ciceri from Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India Pandey Ram P.1, Srivastava Anchal K.2, Srivastava Alok K.3, Ramteke Pramod W.4,* 1Ph. D. Scholar, Jacob Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 2Technical Assistant, Microbial Genomics Laboratory, National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microbes, Mau, UP 3Principal Scientist, Microbial Genomics Laboratory, National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microbes, Mau, UP 4Professor and Head, Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India *Corresponding author email id: pwramteke@gmail.com
Online published on 18 January, 2019. Abstract The aims of this study were to investigate the resistance pattern of Mesorhizobium ciceri against various antibiotics and their diversity analysis on the basis of resistance patterns. A total of 40 strains of M. ciceri were examined for their resistance against 8 different antibiotics viz. polymyxin B, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole, rifampin, chloramphenicol, penicillin, nalidixic acid and erythromycin. All the strains were exhibited sensitivity against polymyxin B, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole and rifampin, Among all, 70% and 65% strains exhibited resistance against nalidixic acid (NA) and penicillin (P), respectively and 35% and 27.5% strains exhibited resistance to chloramphenicol (C) and erythromycin (E), respectively. Resistance to antibiotics found higher in root nodule strains as compared with strains from rhizosphere. Cluster analysis based on the resistance to antibiotics showed that all tested strains formed two main groups with 75% similarity, each of them consisting of several subgroups. The first group formed four subgroups at 90% similarity. The other main group includes 29 strains arranged into nine subgroups. In conclusion, M. ciceri isolates exhibiting resistance to antibiotics can be used for the plant growth promotion as well as for detoxification of the antibiotic and heavy metal polluted soils. Top Key Terms Mesorhizobium ciceri, Chickpea, Environmental stresses, Antibiotics, Phylogenetic analysis. Top |