Rhizosphere flora of Zea mays plants in Takum, Taraba state, Nigeria

Microbiological evaluation of the rhizosphere microflora of Zea mays was carried out using standard microbiological techniques with the aim of determining the microbial loads at the rhizosphere of Zea mays plant, to determine the microorganisms that are found in the root of Zea mays plant, to compare the population of total heterotrophic bacteria and total fungi of Zea mays plant found in two different sites and to determine the diversity of microorganisms found at the rhizoplane of  Zea mays plant at two different locations. The result showed that three (3) bacterial genera were isolated from the rhizosphere of Zea mays plant and they included: Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus and Bacillus. The result also showed that the fungal isolates were both Mould and Yeast. The yeasts included; Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans while the moulds are Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Rhizopus. The total heterotrophic bacterial count ranged from 6.850 ± 0.004×105 cfu/g for the Angwan Abuja sample and 2.710 ± 0.000×106 cfu/g   for the Fadama sample. The total fungal count ranged from 2.600 ± 0.017×105 cfu/g for the Angwan Abuja sample and 5.600 ± 0.001×105 cfu/g for the Fadama sample. Analysis showed that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the microbial count between the two samples. A continued exploration of the natural biodiversity of soil microorganisms and the optimization and manipulation of microbial interactions in the rhizosphere of crops represents a prerequisite step to develop more efficient biofertilizers.