Exploration of Selected Streptomyces Strains from Western Ghats for its Agriculture and Biomedical Application

Abstract

Rice is a semi-aquatic plant belongs to the family Poaceae and genus Oryza. Almost 22 species of plants in this genus are known, of which 20 species are wild. Among them two species are most important and are used for human consumption, O. glaberrima and O. sativa. Rice (O. sativa) was first cultivated from 8000 to 15000 years ago in southeast Asia, such as India, Thailand, China, and North Vietnam. O. glaberrima is believed to have been domesticated about 3000 years ago, by African people who lived in the floodplains of river Niger. Nowadays rice is cultivated all over the world except Antarctica (Muthayya et al., 2014). More than 50% of the world’s population relies on rice (Oryza sativa) which is a widely accessible staple food. It contributes, to the major sources of dietary energy, (20% of the global supply of dietary energy) in undernourished and poorest people in Africa and Asia as they cannot access or afford nutritious foods.