The purpose of this project was to isolate bacteria from the rhizosphere of Eriogonum corymbosum and run diagnostic tests for evidence of plant growth promoting activities. The crisp leaf buckwheat (Eriogonum corymbosum) is of interest for their ecological role in desert environments as an important food source and shelter for small mammals, birds and insects and as the larval host plant for several butterfly species. This flowering plant is also of interest for its potential use in xeriscaping due to their drought tolerance, ability to grow in a wide range of soil types, wind tolerance, and showy flowers. Very little information is available on beneficial microbes associated with E. corymbosum despite growing evidence that microbes in the rhizosphere, endosphere and phyllosphere play important roles in promoting plant growth, strengthening resistance to plant pathogens, controlling frost injury, and in controlling plant diversity within local ecosystems. Mechanisms by which plant-associated microbes influence host fitness include plant hormone production, protection of the plant from pathogen colonization, and nutrient cycling, including nitrogen fixation and phosphate solubilization. In this study, cultivation-based techniques were used to isolate bacteria from the rhizosphere of the Eriogonum corymbosum, to characterize the isolates for evidence of plant growth promoting activities, and to identify these species through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. 

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My work resulted in about 31 new DNA isolations that are currently being identified through a BLAST search. Additional work is being conducted on this study to identify the characteristics of the beneficial bacteria.