Isolation and Characterization of Phyllosphere Microflora of Maize

Maize is renowned as the "Queen of Cereals" and is one of the world's most significant cereal crops. Several foliar and stalk rot diseases affect maize crops. The illness affected the majority of the cultivars that were issued. The influence of overuse of chemical fungicides on the environment and food safety has become a serious problem with the rise of ecological agriculture. Epiphytes are phyllosphere residents who can include a wide range of bacteria and filamentous fungi. Microbial interactions in the phyllosphere repress and promote plant pathogen colonisation and infection of tissues, increasing disease resistance and agricultural crop productivity, implying that phyllosphere microorganisms can play a key role in growth promotion and disease suppression. Bacteria from individual colonies were studied. Individual colony bacteria was examined for shape, size, colour, Gram staining, endospore staining, elevation and texture for morphological studies. Different biochemical tests viz., Catalase, Oxidase, Voges Prausker’s, Indole, Methyl red, Gelatin liquefaction were done for phyllosphere bacteria.