ABSTRACT
In the present study, diversity and plant growth promoting traits of bacteria isolated from Renuka Lake,Himachal Pradesh was investigated. A total of three samples, including sediment (pH-7.3), sub-surface water(pH-8.1), and surface water (pH-8.2), were collected. A total of 65 bacterial isolates were obtained on differentgrowth media. Among 65 isolates 18 isolates were found to be solubilizers of phosphorus. The maximumamount of phosphorus was solubilized by EU-RL 54 (7,976 ± 0.01 µg/l) followed by EU-RL 53 (6,322 ± 0.01µg/l). Phosphorus solubilizers also possessed other plant growth promoting traits, such as the production ofammonia, hydrogen cyanide, zinc solubilization, production of hydrolytic enzymes. The isolates were identifiedbelonging to different genera Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus, Pseudomonas, andStaphylococcus. This is the first report for these plant growth promoting bacteria to solubilize a considerableamount of phosphorus isolated from Ecosystems, Lesser Himalayas.