ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF CYANOBACTERIA AND ITS IMPACT ON SEED GERMINATION POTENTIAL OF MAIZE (Zea mays L.) USING SEED GERMINATION EXPERIMENT

In this present study, 11 different cyanobacterial cultures were isolated and identified from Galba River of Wolaita Sodo Town, Wolaita region, Ethiopia and identified based on the morphometric characters under microscopic examinations. Among these 11 cyanobacterial isolates 10 isolates were identified as non-heterocystous and one isolate was identified as heterocystous cyanobacteria. The identified nonheterocystous cyanobacterial isolates were Pseudanabaena sp. WSU1, Phormidium sp. WSU2, Geitlerinema sp. WSU3, Arthrospira sp. WSU4, Oscillatoria sp. WSU5, Phormidium sp. WSU6, Lyngbya sp. WSU7, Gloeocapsa sp. WSU8, Oscillatoria sp. WSU9, Spirulina sp. WSU10 and the identified heterocystous cyanobacterial isolate was Calothrix sp. WSU11. Formulated Aqueous extracts of all these 11 cyanobacterial isolates at three different concentrations such as 1%, 2% and 3% were used for seed germination experiment using Zea mays L. (maize) seeds. The non-heterocystous cyanobacterial isolates Pseudanabaena sp. WSU1 at 1%, Phormidium sp. WSU2 at 2%, Geitlerinema sp. WSU3 at 2%, Lyngbya sp. WSU7 at 3%, Spirulina sp. WSU10 at 2% concentration and heterocystous cyanobacterial isolates Calothrix sp. WSU11 at 3% concentration showed significantly higher results in all the morphological and biochemical parameters of Zea mays L. (maize) when compared to control. The present study results indicated that the application cyanobacterial aqueous extracts influenced the metabolism of reserve food and promoted the seed germination effectively. Keywords— Cyanobacteria, Aqueous extract, germination, maize