Tomato and chilli seeds were sterilized with 70% ethanol
for 2 min and in 2% sodium hypochlorite for 2 min,
followed by washing ten times in sterile tap water. For this
experiment, pure cultures were grown in nutrient broth at
28°C and diluted to a final concentration of 108 colonyforming
units (CFU) ml−1 in sterile saline water (0.85%).
The surface-sterilized seeds were immersed in appropriate
PGP endophytic suspension for 1 h, air-dried, and sown
immediately. The following treatments were investigated,
with three replicates of two individual experiments: (9)
control (without bacterial inoculation), (1) Bacillus sp.
BETS11 (2) Bacillus cereus BETS14 (3) Bacillus sp.
BETL9 (4) Bacillus pumilus BETL13 (5) Arthrobacter sp.
BECS1 (6) Serratia marcescens BECL8 (7) Serratia
marcescens BECS6 and (8) Bacillus megaterium BECS7.
Pots were sterilized with 20% sodium hypochlorite
solution and filled with sterile loam soil. The tomato
and chilli seeds (50 seeds in each pot) were sown in
plastic pots filled with 1 kg sterile field soil. On days 12
and 18 after sowing, the tomato and chilli seedlings
were thinned to one plant per hole. The pots were
arranged in a completely randomized factorial design.
The seedlings were grown in a glasshouse at a
temperature of 28–32°C and 85% relative humidity, on
a day-night cycle of 13–14 h natural light. The pots
were watered to 50% water-holding capacity and were
maintained at this moisture content by watering to
weight every day. For each species and treatment, the
plants of three pots were harvested 3 weeks after the
emergence of seedlings, washed and morphological
characteristics viz., root length, shoot length, dry and
wet weight of stem and root, and total number of
secondary roots of each plant was recorded.