Characterization and Evaluation of Bacillus siamensis Isolate for its Growth Promoting Potential in Tomato

In quest of prospective rizospheric bacteria of agricultural importance, one of the isolates from bean (Lablab niger Medikus) was identified as Bacillus siamensis based on morphological, biochemical and 16S rRNA gene sequencing data. Study was carried out to evaluate growth promotion of two tomato cultivars, in vitro and in vivo. Experiments conducted for two consecutive years, following seed treatments revealed that the bacterial isolate increased plant height by 14.66‒15.68%, shoot fresh weight by 34.5‒65.09% and root fresh weight by 75.3‒92.48% over the non-treated control. The bacterial strain showed encouraging results for plant growth promotion in pot study and hence may be useful for the growth enhancement of tomato plant.