Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are eco-friendly and sustainable options for agrochemicals, particularly for enhancing crop productivity under stress conditions. The present research aims to isolate and characterize native PGPR from tomato rhizospheric soil and to evaluate their effectiveness as a dose-dependent response to enhance the growth of tomato seedlings. Out of 112 isolates, 10 bacterial strains were selected based on key PGPR traits, including indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), ammonia production, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), exopolysaccharide (EPS) synthesis, hydrolytic enzyme activity, potassium solubilization, antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum, and tolerance to pH and heat stress. Molecular identification via 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed that these isolates belong to the genera Serratia and Enterobacter. S. marcescens So-1 and Enterobacter sp. So-12 produced the highest levels of IAA (2.6-24.1 µg/mL). In vitro tomato seed germination tests using bacterial suspensions at three concentrations (106, 107, and 108 CFU/mL) showed dose-dependent improvements, with T1 increasing germination up to 108.3% compared to the control. In polyhouse trials using cocopeat formulations, seedling growth improved noticeably. T2 increased the root length (28.3 ± 2.98 cm) by over 1560%, and the shoot length (35.7 ± 0.57 cm) increased by 55% against the control, whose root length is 1.7 ± 0.47. The chlorophyll amount of the treated leaves further showed significant results over the control. Collectively, these findings suggest that using native PGPR in a dose-dependent way can help tomato seedlings grow better and promote more sustainable crop production.

Allied Health Sciences Datta Meghe Institute of Higher Education and Research Wardha 442107 Maharashtra India

Botany and Microbiology Department College of Science King Saud University P O Box 2455 Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia

Center of Advanced Innovation Technologies VŠB Technical University of Ostrava 708 00 Ostrava Poruba Czech Republic

Centre for Research Impact and Outcome Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology Chitkara University Rajpura 140401 Punjab India

Department of Bio Science Career Point University Hamirpur 176041 Himachal Pradesh India

Department of Biosciences Himachal Pradesh University Summer Hill Shimla 171005 Himachal Pradesh India

Department of Biosciences University Institute of Biotechnology Chandigarh University Gharuan Mohali 140413 Punjab India

Department of Biotechnology Chandigarh University Mohali 140413 Punjab India

Department of Biotechnology University Centre for Research and Development Chandigarh University Mohali 140413 Punjab India

Department of Chemistry Faculty of Science University of Hradec Kralove Rokitanskeho 62 500 03 Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Department of Chemistry Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology Chennai 600119 Tamil Nadu India

Department of MLT Abhilashi University Chailchowk Mandi 175028 Himachal Pradesh India

Division of Microbiology Career Point University Hamirpur 176041 Himachal Pradesh India

Division of Research and Innovation Uttaranchal University Dehradun 24800 Uttarakhand India

Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas Universitat Politècnica de València Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 46022 Valencia Spain

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