Isolation of endophytic bacteria from Solanum sp. and their antibacterial activity against plant pathogenic bacteria

Endophytic bacteria reside within plant hosts without causing disease symptoms. In this study, seventy three endophytic bacterial isolates were isolated from the roots of Solanum sp. plants. The isolates were further subdivided into 15 groups based on the phenotypic characteristics. Some of these isolates were preliminarily classified as members of the genus Bacillus and fluorescent pseudomonads. Of 73 isolates, 40 were found to have in vitro antagonistic activity against various plant pathogenic bacteria. The isolate designated Kutox1201 exhibited a wide range of inhibition against tested plant pathogenic bacteria. The Gram positive phytopathogenic bacterium, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis was inhibited to the most by the isolates tested. The ability of these isolates to suppress the growth of various phytopathogenic bacteria makes them potential biocontrol agents.