Biocontrol potential; antifungal activity and plant growth promoting activities of endophytic bacteria from Raphanus sativus

The study was aimed to find an alternate approach for chemicals used in agriculture to avoid microbial infections. Fungal pathogens cause different types of plant diseases and affect a majority of edible crops by destroying the tissues of the plant in a direct or indirect mechanism. So, an alternative approach led to the development of biocontrol agents using endophytic  bacteria. A total of 8 endophytic bacteria were isolated from the root, stem, and leaves of radish (Raphanus sativus). The antagonistic activity of these bacteria against the 2 isolated plant pathogenic fungi was determined in vitro. Two out of eight bacteria showed more than 50% inhibitory activity against one fungus, were further characterized using the 16s rRNA sequencing method. On the basis of the phylogenetic tree of the 16s rRNA method, the endophytic bacterial samples were identified as Tonsilliphilus suis  and Exiguobacterium aurantiacum against plant pathogenic Aspergillus flavus  isolated from Raphanus sativus, which makes them highly suitable as an alternative for chemical fertilizers to provide resistance to plant pathogenic fungi. The cell wall degrading activities such as protease activity, amylase activity, and plant growth-promoting properties such as Hydrogen cyanide (HCN), Indole acetic acid (IAA), ammonia production of these endophytic bacteria were evaluated. The results show that T. suis  is the most effective strain for radish growth development.