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Three endophytic actinomycetes strains recovered from surface sterilized root tissues of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Meliaceae), plants were selected through tests for their potential as bio-control and plant growth promoting agents. It was also observed that the seed treated with the spore suspension of three selected strains of Streptomyces, significantly promoted plant growth and antagonized the growth of Alternaria alternata, causal agent of early blight disease in tomato plant. It was observed that the three selected strains prolifically produce IAA and siderophores that play vital role in promotion of plant growth and in suppression of Alternaria alternata. Interestingly, Streptomyces strain AzR-051 produced the highest amount of IAA at 13.73 μmol ml(-1) , compared to strains AzR-049 and AzR-010 9.22 μmol ml(-1) and 10.43 μmol ml(-1) respectively. It also produces siderophores higher than the other two strains. Thus these endophytic isolates have the potential as plant growth promoters as well as a bio-control agent, which is a useful trait for crop production in nutrient deficient soils.

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The present study is an extension of our previous work carried out on Cynodon dactylon. This study deals with the critical evaluation of glycemic potential of ethanolic extract of defatted C. dactylon. The doses of 250, 500 and 750 mg kg−1 bw of the extract were administered orally to normal as well as Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats to study its glycemic potential. The effect of repeated oral administration of the same doses of ethanolic extract was also studied on serum lipid profile of severely diabetic (SD) rats. The dose of 500 mg kg−1 bw was identified as the most effective dose as it lowered the blood glucose levels of normal by 42.12% and of diabetic by 43.42% during fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glucose tolerance test respectively. The SD rats were also treated daily with this identified dose of 500 mg kg−1 bw for 2 weeks and a significant reduction of 56.34% was observed in FBG level. Total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein and triglyceride levels were also decreased by 32.94, 64.06 and 48.46% respectively in SD rats whereas, cardioprotective high density lipoprotein increased by 16.45%. The reduced urine sugar level and increased body weight are additional advantages. These evidences clearly indicate that the ethanolic extract of defatted C. dactylon has high antidiabetic potential along with good hypolipidemic profile.