Isolation of endophytic bacteria
The plants used for bacterial isolation were collected from tropical regions of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Processed samples were serially diluted, spread plated on nutrient agar and incubated at 28°C for 48 h. A total of 87 different colonies isolated on nutrient agar were purified with repeated culturing and maintained in 20% glycerol at −20°C. Potential isolates were selected on the basis of results of screening for antagonistic and PGP properties