Enhancement of Plant Growth in Tomato by Inoculation with Plant Growth Promoting Bacillus spp

Abstract

Four bacterial isolates selected from among 200 obtained from different source samples were evaluated for plant growth promoting (PGP) traits. These are found to be good for P solubilization, IAA, HCN, siderophore and NH3 production with antifungal activity on phytopathogenic fungi and abiotic stress tolerance. Tomato plant growth was enhanced by these isolates at seed germination (14-19%) and pot culture (increase in biomass 47-76%). These isolates are identified as Bacillus siamensis RS8, Bacillus tequilensis MS3, Bacillus subtilis subsp stercoris MS19 and Bacillus velezensis MS20 having potential for developing as bioinoculants to enhance the tomato plant growth and productivity.