INTRODUCTION

1. BACTERIAL DIVERSITY IN AGRICULTURAL FIELDS AND DESERTSFARWA SARWAT, UZMA BADAR AND NUZHAT AHMEDCENTRE FOR MOLECULAR GENETICS, UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI, KARACHI-75270 Figure 1: AGRO-ECOLOGIAL ZONES OF SINDH MAPPING BACTERIAL DIVERSITY IN ATACAMA DESERT, CHILE INTRODUCTION Bacteria have been on the earth 2 to 3 billion years longer than any other life. They are one of the most diverse life forms on earth and may consist of more than one million species. Only a fraction of these species have been identified, even fewer have been studied and are available in culture collection centers. The bacterial diversity of the earth is important but still untapped and unknown resource of the planet and so is the bacterial diversity of Sindh Agricultural fields and Deserts (Fig 1) which is showing the Agro-Ecological Zones of Sindh which needs to be discovered for its hidden bacterial treasure. BENEFECIAL BACTERIA AND THEIR ROLE IN AGRICULTURE Bacteria have many beneficial role in Agriculture (Table2) as they are important bioagents for the control of pest and diseases (Table3) and are also involve in phosphate solubilization (Table 1). LIFE EXIST IN DESERTS Scientists have also found life in the driest places of the Earth such as Atacama Desert (Figures 2 and 3) and in Death Valley, California (Figure 4). Not only they survive in such areas but also give color to the desert (Figure5). OBJECTIVES This poster addresses future plans for comparative study and cataloguing of bacteria of desert and agricultural areas of Sindh. As it is known that most arid desert lands support life. In view of this it is predicted that these may have the bacteria which are able to survive under extreme conditions and support plant growth. There are chances to have novel; diversified bacterial communities which shall be identified and preserved. It is also proposed to study their diversity with respect to selected characters (antibacterial activity, solubilization and bioabsorbent biopolymer) and at molecular level of bacterial genome (DNA fingerprinting), as bacterial genomes are extremely dynamic and mosaic in nature. These properties could lateron be used for improving fertility of Agriculture. REFRENCES 1. JHA, M. N. etal.Agromicrobes in Current trends in life sciences.vol:23. 2. Jones D.G. Phylogenetic trees made easy: A how to do manual.. 1st edition 1993 3. Dorn, R. I. etal. (1982)“Rock Varnish” Progress in Physical Geography. 6: 317-367 4. Achim, S. etal.(2003) Bacterial diversity in maize rhizospheres. Molecular Ecology 12, 251-262 5. Rainey, F. a. etal.(1997). Phylogenetic diversity of the deinococci as determined by 16S ribosomal DNA sequence comparision. Int J Syst Bacteriology 47: 510-514 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We are grateful to PARC/ ALP for funding this Project “Mapping Bacterial Diversity in Sindh Agricultural Fields and Deserts: AT Molecular Level.” Figure 2 The Atacama desert is one of the driest places on Earth. Scientists are searching for traces of microorganisms in this extreme environment. Credit: Carnegie Mellon University By KateRuder Posted:November14,2003GNN News AlertsNews by TopicExtremophiles A new species of Deinococcus bacteria has been discovered in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The newly found microbe is resistant to high doses of radiation as its cousin Deinococcus radiodurans is, says Fred A. Rainey of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, a member of the research team. PROJECT TITLE :Mapping Bacterial Diversity in Sindh Agricultural Fields and Deserts: At molecular level Table 1: Occurrence of phosphate solubilizing organisms Figure 3: Graph showing counts of culturable soil bacteria (cfu) per gram of dry soil sampled at 20 to 30 cm depth along 4500-m and a 1200-m elevational transects in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile Table 2: BENEFECIAL MICROBES AND THEIR ROLE IN AGRICULTURE Figure 4 : Bacterial diversity in desert varnish from the western region of DeathValley,California. Figure 5: DESERT VARNISH & LICHEN CRUSTMICROSCOPIC ORGANISMS COLOR DESERT ROCKS Table3: Important bioagent for the control of pest and diseases