Study of Bacterial Endophytes in Lycopersicon esculentum and their potential for plant growth promotion and biocontrol of tomato diseases in Bhopal and its peripheral regions

Abstract

A total of 130 endophytes were isolated from the root, stem and leaf samples from Bhopal, Hoshangabad and Raisen region of Madhya Pradesh of collected plants which were clustered into 21 groups representing 21 different bacteria, classified into three bacterial phyla-Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. newlineThe selected isolates were then tested for various plant growth promoting attributes like phosphate solubilization, potassium solubilization, Indole acetic acid production, etc. The isolates were then studied for their antagonistic potential against Fusarium oxysporum. Two isolates Bacillus velezensis BUMD5 and Pseudomonas fluorescens BUMD9 were showing positive results for maximum number of attributes and were selected for their effect on the growth parameters of Tomato plants in pot experiments. A two-fold increase in the growth parameters was observed on treatment with consortium of the two isolates. They were also studied for their antagonistic potential against Fusarium oxysporum in pot trials and the effect of pathogen on the photosynthetic efficiency of the plants. It was observed that infected plants that received the biocontrol treatment had shown a decreased damage to the photosynthetic apparatus as compared to plants treated with pathogen alone. Certain anti-fungal compounds were present in the LCMS analysis of crude extract of the consortium of isolates which were absent in the results obtained for isolates alone. It can be concluded that the two isolates- Bacillus velezensis BUMD5 and Pseudomonas fluorescens BUMD9 can be used as bio control agents for Fusarium wilt. However, the consortium was found to be more effective than the isolates alone. newline