Pantoea Tagorei: Visva-Bharati discovers new bacteria, names it after Nobel laureate

A group of researchers from the Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati University discovered a bacteria capable of stimulating plant growth and named it ‘Pantoea tagori’ in honor of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Microbiologist Bomba Dam, assistant professor in the department of Botany of the university team that directed the research, told PTI that the bacteria have immense potential to revolutionize agricultural practices. Dam of Shantiniketan in the district said, “This is a treatment of plant growth promoting bacteria which will prove to be a turning point in agriculture. “It has demonstrated a huge potential to promote the cultivation of rice, pigeon pea and chilli.” Of Birbhum. Bengal Occidental. We wrote with the help of researchers Raju Biswas, Abhijit Mishra, Abhinav Chakraborty, Pooja Mukhopadhyay and Sandeep Ghosh. Talking about the discovery, Dam said his team isolated the bacteria from the soil of Sonajhuri, an area in Shantiniketan. “We discovered the bacteria in the carbon mining area of Jharia in Jharkhand,” he said. By developing bacterial characteristics, ‘Pantoea tagori’ efficiently extracts potassium from the soil, thereby improving plant growth, Dam said. Substances found in the soil of Jharia’s carbon mines solubilize potassium and phosphorus and fix nitrogen, which helps promote plant growth. Our analysis showed that we were dealing with a new and unique species in its nature”, Dam said. The bacteria will reduce the use of commercial fertilizers and ultimately help reduce the cost of agriculture and increase the yield of crops, he said, adding that the Association of Microbiologists of India (AMI) has officially recognized the discovery. Their findings were also published in the Indian Journal of Microbiology. Regarding the reasons for naming it in honor of Tagore, I mentioned Tagore’s visionary agricultural activities. He said, “This is the best way to honor the agricultural activities of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and his son Rathindranath Tagore. Tagore sent his son to study agricultural science in Illinois, USA.